Experiments, Imported from Tumblr, Marginally vegetarian, Subcontinental cooking

Lemon and Lime Lentil Curry

Backstory
Recipe

I COULD MURDER A CURRY… Well, at least commit a certain amount of violence on one.

In other words, I wanted something curry-ish the other day without taking much trouble over it, so I threw this together from what was in the cupboard, fridge and freezer.

(There was rather less than I expected. That’s been fixed.)

When I discovered we had no lamb or chicken it ended up as unintended vegetarian, and can as easily become vegan; just leave out the ghee. If my result is anything to go by, all variations will taste great.

NB #1, there’s no salt; the preserved lemon has plenty.

NB #2, metric measurements are correct, Imperial are approximate, but this whole recipe was pretty vague from start to finish, so wing it.

That’s what I did. For instance, preserved lemon is Moroccan not Indian, yet it worked just fine.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil (I used a 50-50 combination)
2 onions peeled and chopped fine
2 tablespoon hot curry powder
1 tablespoon mild curry powder (or 1 hot / 2 mild if preferred)
6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped fine
2 400g / 14oz tins chopped tomatoes in juice
1 400g / 14oz tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
250 g / 1 cup red lentils
250 g / 1 cup each of red, green, and yellow peppers, sliced and coarsely chopped (optional; we had them in the freezer)
2 heaped tablespoons lime pickle, chopped fine (hot or mild as preferred; Patak brand is good. I used home-made hot)
2 heaped tablespoons preserved lemon, chopped fine (again, I used home-made) *
1 tablespoon garam masala

* If you can’t source preserved lemons, use the zest and juice of at least one fresh lemon (two might be better). If you’ve only got bottled lemon juice, add 125ml / ½ cup of it when the tomatoes go in.

Method

Heat your preferred cooking fat in a pan (a wok is even better), add the chopped onions, and cook until soft and translucent. If desired, cook until starting to brown (this may take up to 45 minutes).
Push the onions to one side, allow the fat to flow into the centre of the pan, add the dry spices, combine well with the fat and cook for about five minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for a further five minutes.
Add the kidney beans and lentils to this mixture, stir well, add the peppers, lime pickle and preserved lemon, and stir again.
Add the chopped tomatoes, and one tomato-tin full of water. (Also add the lemon juice (and zest), if that’s what you’re using instead of preserved lemons.)
Stir well, turn the heat right down, cover, and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes. (This is where I’d have added 2 cubed chicken breasts, if I’d had them).
Check occasionally to ensure nothing is sticking, adding a little water if required. Taste during this process, and adjust the seasoning. (Which means, if you’re using fresh lemon or bottled lemon juice, this is when to add some salt.)
When the lentils are done (I like them a little al dente), sprinkle on 1 tablespoon garam masala, stir it in then serve.

Accompany with Basmati rice, or chapatis (flour tortillas / wraps will do just fine), or naan bread, or any combination of these. I did a mix of 1/3 brown Basmati / 2/3 white Basmati.

@dduane pointed out that what with the carbs, protein, dietary fibre etc., this is also quite healthy. That’s an unexpected bonus for something I just thought was no trouble to make, tasted good…

And didn’t involve committing even a minor felony, though a slice of apple tort to follow would have been nice… :->