If you’re still going strong on eating tasty seasonal fruit like pumpkin, check out this simple, easy, and delicious recipe for a lentil curry. To save you time, I’ll lay out the recipe first and share my thoughts around it at the end. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have!
(Scroll past the recipe for photo and video directions)
Serving size: 1 cup
Makes 8-10 servings
1 can Coconut Milk/Cream
1 can Pumpkin Puree
1 cup Lentils, dry (or 1 – 15oz can ready-to-eat)
3 cups Water
1 med Onion, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 cup Tomatoes/Sauce
2 TB Curry Powder (your choice, I used yellow)
1-2 tsp Salt
1. Heat a large pan with 2 tablespoons oil over med-high heat.
2. Sauté garlic and onion until they start to brown.
3. Add the curry powder and stir so some of the seasonings toast in the pan for a minute or so.
4. Add tomato sauce, coconut cream, pumpkin, lentils, water, and salt.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 20 minutes, or until desired consistency.
6. Serve with rice and roasted veggies!
7. Cool completely before transferring to air-tight containers and refrigerating for future meals.
Cook times for grain sides:
Basmati Rice: 12 minutes
Quinoa: 12 minutes
White Rice: 45 minutes
Brown Rice: 45-60 minutes
(Water and Salt not pictured)
6. Serve with rice and roasted veggies!
7. Cool completely before transferring to air-tight containers and refrigerating for future meals.
I came up with this recipe when I wanted something very filling to use up some extra pumpkin I had. I looked at what I had in the cupboard and realized with coconut cream, pumpkin, a can of lentils would be a good base for curry, and gave it a go! I added WAY too much curry powder the first time, and it was so intense I’m glad it wasn’t such a huge batch.
Once I realized how much I enjoy this combination, and knew I wanted to make some more pumpkin bread this season, I got a couple eating pumpkins, roasted them, portioned them into 550g bags (the amount used in a double batch of pumpkin bread and a reasonable amount of pumpkin for a curry dish), and have made this curry 3 times now!
What I love about this kind of recipe is that it’s very easy to adjust the amounts of each ingredient based on what you have on hand, and very easy to make substitutions (like using a different squash, legume, vegetables, and seasonings).
This recipe works best when everything is as close to room temperature as possible, versus having my pumpkin coming right out of the freezer. Another way to help reduce cooking time if you’re in a hurry is to pre-boil the water on the stove or with an electric tea kettle while the onions are cooking, versus having cold water going into the hot pan and bringing it back to a boil.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
Did you make it just like me, or add some other delicious ingredients?
What other dishes would you like to learn how to make?
Have a lovely day!
– Laura
laura@heartcenteredholistic.com
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Check out past blog posts here:
Meal Preparation Basics: Batching and Time-Management
Meal Preparation Basics: Organizing and Planning
Intro to Meal Preparation
