Healthy Recipes Blog

As I’m sure I told you before, I just LOVE beans and pulses, and lentils are one of my favourites. Just call me an old hippy if you like, but that’s the way it is. And this is one of my favourite lentil recipes - we eat this all the time at home, often with variations of different vegetables, depending on what I’ve got in the fridge at the time. As my husband can’t tolerate spicy food very well, I usually chop up some cucumber, cut some mint and mix it with yogurt and cumin for a cool accompaniament, and serve the whole thing with brown rice, some mango chutney and sometimes chappatis, pitta bread or poppadoms…

Lentil Curry - serves 4

225 g (8 oz) whole brown lentils
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
575 ml (1 pint) vegetable stock
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tbsp oil
4 celery sticks, sliced
2 tsp curry powder (or paste or garam masala)
2 apples cored and seeded
1 tbsp lemon juice
0.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Put the lentils in a pan with half the onion, 1 clove garlic and the stock. Simmer for 45 minutes until lentils are tender and have absorbed the stock.

Boil or steam the cauliflower florets until tender and drain.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the rest of the onion and celery for 4 minutes until osft. Add rest of garlic and curry spices and cook for a further 2 minutes while stirring. Add the cauliflower, apple, lemon juice and salt. Add the lentils and most of the parsley and serve, sprinkled with reserved parsley.