Red lentil curry with coconut milk
Red lentils simmered in coconut milk and tomatoes with curry spices until thick and silky, then stirred with spinach and lime, a 30-minute, one-pot curry that costs next to nothing.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.56 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1½ tbsp curry powder
- 1¼ cups split red lentils, rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 lime, halved
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 530 calories, 19 g protein, 56 g carbs and 29 g fat, and costs about $2.56 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 6 minutes, until soft and at the edges.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic and ginger for 1 minute, then the curry powder, cumin and turmeric for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the lentils, tomatoes, coconut milk, broth and salt and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low and 18 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the lentils have broken down and it’s thick and creamy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 19 min
Dolly’s tip: Stir the bottom now and then. Red lentils love to stick as they thicken.Stir in the spinach until it , then squeeze in half the lime. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Ladle into bowls, over rice if you like, with cilantro and lime wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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