Madras Lentils
This Madras Lentils recipe is an easy, delicious vegetarian curry with a combination of lentils and kidney beans in a crazy-delicious tomato cream sauce.
Ingredients
Scaled from 4 servings
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1 large onion (finely chopped (340 g/12 oz)
- 2 tsp kosher salt (divided use)
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds (or 1 tsp ground)
- 1 minced jalapeno
- 3 tbsp minced garlic (9 large cloves garlic)
- 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 1 18 oz can brown lentils (drained)
- 1 18 oz can red kidney beans (drained)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
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Heat oil and butter in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1 tsp of the salt. Cook until onion is soft and golden, about 10 minutes (longer if onion was fridge-cold or not super-finely chopped). Stir frequently and reduce heat if it starts charring. It should be translucent and almost caramelized.
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Reduce heat to medium and stir in cumin seeds, cooking until they smell fragrant (about a minute).
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Add jalapeno, garlic, ginger, cayenne and turmeric and cook a minute more.
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Add tomato paste and cook a few minutes until it turns a shade darker and the oil shimmers on top.
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Stir in the water, lentils, beans, cream and remaining 1 tsp salt.
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Reduce heat to low simmer, covered, at least 10 minutes. (If you have time to simmer longer, the flavour gets even better with time. Use 1 cup water instead of ½ cup because it will thicken up quite a bit, then simmer up to 1 hour, stirring every now and then.)
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Stir in cilantro and serve.
Nutrition
Per serving
| Calories | 304 |
|---|---|
| Fat | 30 |
| Saturated fat | 15 |
| Trans fat | 0.5 |
| Unsaturated fat | 13 |
| Cholesterol | 64 |
| Sodium | 1332 |
| Carbohydrates | 9 |
| Fiber | 1 |
| Sugar | 3 |
| Protein | 3 |