This recipe for Curried Lentils is a spin-off of the ever-popular Quick Curried Chickpeas. It always amazes me how a recipe with so few ingredients can have such big flavor! For this version, I subbed out chickpeas for lentils, added some diced carrot for color and sweetness (and because my New Year’s resolution is VEGETABLES!), and increased the curry powder. The result, although not exactly pretty, was so good that I couldn’t stop piling forkfuls into my mouth while I took the photos. Seriously, I couldn’t stop.
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There are so many ways you can eat these Curried Lentils that I decided to present the recipe as the lentils themselves. They’d be great as part of an Indian platter with some creamed spinach and naan. You could stuff them into a pita as sort of a sloppy joe-like sandwich (but vegetarian, of course), or you could build a “bowl” meal with brown rice, a fried egg, and maybe even some spinach. Options, options, options!
This recipe made about four cups and depending on how you serve it, that should be at minimum four servings. Pretty stinking cheap. If you happen to have any left over, these lentils should freeze quite well.
Curried Lentils
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 medium onion ($0.32)
- 3 medium carrots (1/2 lb.) ($0.55)
- 1 cup uncooked brown lentils ($0.68)
- 2 Tbsp curry powder hot or mild ($0.60)
- 15 oz can tomato sauce* ($0.59)
- Salt to taste ($0.02)
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.40)
Instructions
- Spread the lentils out on a baking sheet to make them easier to see. Pick out any stones or debris. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a sauce pot, then add the lentils. Allow the pot to come back up to a boil, then turn the heat to low, place a lid on top, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Drain the cooked lentils in a colander.
- Meanwhile, mince the garlic and finely dice the onion and carrots. Sauté the onion, garlic, and carrots in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat until the onions are transparent (about 5 minutes). Add the curry powder and sauté for one minute more.
- Add the cooked and drained lentils to the skillet, along with the tomato sauce. Stir and heat through (about 5 minutes). Turn the heat off, taste the lentils, and add salt if needed (I added about 1/2 tsp).
- Top with fresh cilantro and serve over a bed of rice, with naan, or crusty bread.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Curried Lentils – Step by Step Photos
For this recipe I used brown lentils because they cook quickly and hold their shape. Brown lentils cook in about 20 minutes, whereas French or green lentils take closer to 45 minutes. Red and yellow lentils also cook quickly, but they tend to break down and turn into mush when cooked. I definitely wanted the lentils to stay whole.
To cook the lentils, bring a pot with about 3 cups of water to a boil (the amount of water isn’t so crucial, just as long as there is enough for the lentils to move about freely, kind of like when cooking pasta. It will be drained off later). Once boiling, add 1 cup of dry lentils. Let the pot come back up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, place a lid on top, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, test a lentil to see if it’s tender. If not, let it simmer for about 5 more minutes. Drain the lentils in colander once finished cooking.
Meanwhile, prep and cook the vegetables. Mince two cloves of garlic and finely dice one medium onion and three medium carrots (about 1/2 lb.).
Add the garlic, onions, and carrots to a large skillet along with one tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions become transparent, about 5 minutes.
Add two tablespoons of curry powder and sauté for one minute more (this toasts the spices and helps bring out their flavor). All curry powders are a little different, so you can start with one tablespoon and increase it to your liking.
Add the cooked and drained lentils, plus one 15oz. can of tomato sauce. Stir to combine and then heat through (about five minutes). Taste the lentils and add salt if needed. I added about 1/2 teaspoon.
Serve them hot topped with fresh cilantro (if you’re a cilantro person).
There are a lot of different ways you can eat these Curried Lentils, this yummy bowl being one of them. I added a bed of brown jasmine rice, the lentils, a fried egg, and some fresh cilantro. SO GOOD.
This was really good! I had canned lentils on hand, so I subbed those in at step 2. I also used a food processor for the carrots and processed them smaller than the original recipe. I’m looking forward to making this again, and will probably try Jeffrey’s suggestion to sub in garam masala, too!
Yum, enjoyed this one.
This recipe is very tasty and has become a staple in my lunch rotation. I recommend swapping out one tbsp of curry powder for something like garam masala. I found that it made the recipe a bit less sticky while adding a bit of kick
The recipe was absolutely spectacular. One question I have though is if the carrots are supposed to be a little hard still or if I should’ve sautéed them longer than specified.
Unbelievable how good this recipe is with so few ingredients. I like to put it in hard shell tacos; works great with just this and maybe some hot sauce.
Loved this recipe! I used a can of diced tomatoes drained instead of the tomato sauce.It was easy to make and punches a lot of flavor! It was delicious reheated the next day!
This recipe was sooooo good. I added potatoes as well, cooked them for a little before adding the onions and carrots, and it was amazing. It was my first time ever trying lentils and I will definitely be making this again!!
I have never been disappointed by any your recipes. Plus, on a limited income from social security the reduced costs for groceries is a tremendous boon! I thank you so much!
This was my first budgetbyte recipe I didn’t like! After reading other reviews, I made sure to cut my carrots super small, yet they still were crunchy. The flavor is also not very good in my opinion. I do appreciate the salt guidance though. I’m always very lost when it just says “salt to taste” so having the 1/2 tsp starting point was great.
I served this to my brother and his children as a variation on traditional Mexican breakfast.
Scrambled Eggs
Curried Lentils (instead of refined beans)
Fried Potatoes
Pico de Gallo
Avocado Slices
Very filling. Great start to a busy day.
I made this tonight with one can of lentils and one can of chick peas because it’s all I had. Talk about quick and delicious! So grateful for this tonight. I will make it again and again. Just for kicks I added cayenne and cinnamon, 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar and 1 tbs of maple syrup. Topped with cilantro and raisins and a bit of cultured milk.
This recipe is the basis of so many amazing meals! I love your version but I also LOVE coconut. So to add a flare to this meal while keeping it relatively healthy (without cream) I substitute the olive oil for coconut oil, grate in a tablespoon of fresh ginger, and in the final minutes of cooking add a bag of frozen spinach… PERFECTION. I must say I truly appreciate the versatility of your recipes as they are teaching me, slowly, the art of cooking and perfecting my meals!
I made this tonight but only had red lentils and then pizza sauce to use in place of the tomato sauce. It still turned out really good, and the mushiness helped my toddler eat it with rice.
This recipe has become a staple in our house. And me, never having been a lentil fan as a child! I love how this can be such a satisfying meatless meal. The flavor is so outstanding. We’re doing it tonight with naan instead of rice. I may do it with some noodles next time. If I don’t make this for awhile I really begin to crave it! Thank you for bringing this recipe to us!
I made this for lunch today. I put it over quinoa. It was delicious. It required no salt at all. So glad I tried it. Thanks so much.
I just made this for lunch today and it was delicious! I love how budget-friendly and nutritious it is! Just what I needed for quarantine cooking!
I live in West Yorkshire UK and am in isolation at this virus ridden time. I am using up lots of things from my cupboard and freezer so my ingredients varied a little but oh, this is so delicious. Thank you. Ann Broxham
Delicious! Lentils were all sold out, so I used chana dal (split chickpeas) which required soaking + longer boil time, but it turned out fantastic. Tastes even better when topped on warm rice!
This was amazing. i really like the part about toasting spices. I had done it with fresh black pepper before, but didnt know it extended to spices already in a powder form.
This recipe was easy to make and delicious! I added it to my recipe book. Thank you for sharing!
It was amazing, my husband said it was a little to thick so I might have to add more tomato sauce next time, added little chucks of chicken cooked with some of the curry.
Hi sorry to bother you but isn’t 15 oz of tomato sauce around 450 gm is that amount okay or is it excessive. I don’t know anything about cooking that’s my first time trying so I am asking 😅
Hi Maryam! It’s approximately 425 grams. Have fun!
I tried it for the first time tonight. The carrots we’re not soft enough at all, I cooked the carrots and onions for at least 10min. I’m guessing they weren’t diced small enough.t kids finished it anyway though :-D. Thanks for sharing. This website has been a godsend.
Yes the thickness of the carrots can greatly impact how quick they’ll cook. Glad to hear it was still a hit! We’re happy you are here!
Great Stuff! I am going to personalize it for my own tastes a bit but it is awesome! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Tina!
Pretty good.
I changed it up a bit.
I used a can of Organic Lentils I got for $1.00
Also added diced Roma’s instead of tomato sauce.
Spiced it up a bit with some Cayenne
Also made it into a whole meal by adding 1/2 lb of Grass fed and finished ground beef I had left.
Served on top of leftover Lemon rice I had left from the day before.
Tastes a little like Chili LOL but with Lentils and curry:)
Tasty and simple! I made this with a sweet potato rather than carrots, and forgot to pick up tomato sauce at the store – ended up with a 10oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. Poured the whole can in and it still turned out delicious! We will be making this again.
I have to agree with Deb, the tomato totally overpowers everything. I thought this would be a great recipe but as I was adding the tomato I thought to myself, this ratio seems off. When I tasted it, I was sadly correct. The plain cooked lentils tasted better. I think this dish is probably good without the tomato added. I’ve been searching for a tasty east lentil dish. This ain’t it.
This is one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted. The tomato sauce completely over powers any other flavor. I looked up some other recipes because I hate to throw all of this out and tried to tweak it but I still don’t know if I consider it edible. Awful. And I love curry.
I want to try this at the weekend but I live outside the US. 1 cup of lentils = 200g? Can someone weight next time they make please. Thanks
Ratios are all off. Good practice though.
You should market tee-shirts, “Curried Lentils”. I love your site. Thank you.
Love this! Easy and very tasty
Been eating meat meat and more meat, it was time for a change, saw these brown lentils in the pantry and typed in the iPad looking for a recipe viola . Instead of carrot diced some sweet potato and substituted the tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes growing wildly in the back yard. I could not go with out meat so pan fried some chicken thighs and steamed broccoli to compliment, the finished dish was supa
I made this dish and because my doctor tells me to watch the salt, I left it out. Also, I bought tomato sauce without added salt. The result was bland. Then it occurred me to substitute lime juice for the salt, which made a huge difference. I simple added it to the cooked lentil dish. It was great and I will continue making it in the future.
Student here who recently discovered this recipe. I am never going back, this is the most amazing meal prep food I’ve ever come across. It’s so easy and foolproof, I just threw everything in a pot and let it simmer while studying my vocab, put it in airtight containers and in the fridge for the whole week, and it was absolutely great. Lentils have never tasted this good and it’s also a really good meal for my student bank account :’)
I was looking for a recipe to use some premade Trader Joe’s lentils… I didn’t have tomato sauce but used a can of diced and it is so delicious. I can imagine making this regularly for my lunch prep…it paired very well with some leftover quinoa. Yummy!
I had a crazy day yesterday and went into dinner without the ingredients or time for what id planned for dinner. Then i remembered this gem and i had everything on hand. I even had some rice left from making the budgetbytes lentil tacos the other day so i served this with rice and crusty bread and it was a great fast, easy dinner
So I’ve been trying to learn to work around recipes when I don’t have everything on hand so that I’m not running to the store every 5 minutes. I only had green lentils on hand, and didn’t have any carrots or tomato sauce. I ended up using ketchup + a little basil in place of of the tomato sauce and it’s AMAZING!! Put it on top of quick rice pilaf and it’s a winner. Will be on repeat, thanks so much!
Sounds great-what kind if curry do you use?
Unfortunately I don’t remember the brand name of the one I used here and I’ve moved since and can’t find it in the stores near my new home!
Can you freeze this? I love it, especially for my work lunches, but a little goes such a long way!
Yes, this will freeze very well. :)
Wow! I just finished making this dish, but I only used one pan, frying The garlic and onion and spices, with the lentils, then added the liquid. I didn’t even have to drain the lentils! It was so delicious I couldn’t wait for the rice. Lol! Thank u. Alisa M. PS. Also added 2 Tbs. Garam Masala. Yum!
Thank you so much. flavors amazing with jasmine rice and i can eat it all week. very satisfying. Made it with pinto beans for my daughter who cant have lentils and just as good.
HI,
iIS IT REALLY TOMATO SAUCE OR CANNED TOMATOES WITH HERBS AND SPICES IN THEM PLEASE?
The product is simply called “tomato sauce” on the label. Here is a link to one popular brand of tomato sauce so you can see what it looks like and look at the ingredients.
I added some kale to this and used ready made lentils from Trader Joe’s. It was so delicious and quick! Served as recommended with rice a fried egg and naan. The whole family loved it.
Hi! When did you add the kale to the pot?
This is now a staple in our house! Thank you!
anyone have any ideas on how this could be translated to a pressure cooker?
This was delicious .. I used half brown and half yellow lentils and substituted beef broth for the tomatoes and it still turned out super good. Recipe makes quite a bit so we will keep some out for tomorrow and freeze the rest. Family of two.
Hi did this recipe and it is really tasty. Will do it again
Wow! Just made this, and it was DELICIOUS! I added some coconut milk, and it was so yummy! This will definitely be a staple in my house!
Made this tonight when I was looking for something easy to make with things I already had.
I added a bit of red pepper and it was amazing!
Thanks for the recipe!
We really like this, thanks for sharing!
Tomatoes give me stomach aches, any substitute ideas?
Unfortunately tomatoes are a pillar ingredient in this recipe, I don’t think there would be an adequate substitute for this recipe.
I made this last night and I didn’t have tomatoes in the house. So I skipped tomatoes all together. It still turned out pretty good and my husband loved it!
Try using coconut milk instead, that’s what I did because I don’t like tomato sauce tastes awesome! Also added a teaspoon of turmeric.
This is a very tasty nutritious dish, can you advise if it can be frozen please?
This one should freeze well.
I made this tonight for a quick fix and it turned out to be so good! My husband loved it! The best part is it’s so easy and quick to make!
These curried lentils are the bomb! I had half an onion chopped up with bell pepper leftover in the fridge and I added extra carrots and lentils (and quinoa, since there wasn’t enough left to really use on its own) also added extraaaa curry powder and some sliced serrano that I had hanging around and it is astounding.
So thankful for this recipe! I am a new vegan and also a college student, and not only is this recipe delicious but it’s so so quick and easy to make, and also soooo cheap!! Great for meal prepping too!!! I use fire roasted diced tomato instead, and some extra Cayanne pepper cause I like things spicy! This recipe will be a staple of mine for years! Thank you!
What if I wanted to add ground beef to this recipe? At what point would I add it?
I would probably brown the beef first, then continue by adding the garlic, onion, and carrot and proceed as usual.
I just made this tonight for me and my husband- delicious! I ended up doubling the recipe for left overs and I’m so glad I did!! My husband likes it a little spicy so he added a touch more curry plus shirracha to his while i added sour cream to mine (I’m a wienie when it comes to heat :) We just made some yeast less naan to enjoy with it and it was a simple but delightful meal! So glad I found your site and can’t wait to try more of your recipes! :)
Is the tomaro sauce passata or puree or jetchup?
It’s not exactly the same as passata, but definitely more similar to passata than ketchup. Ketchup has way too much sugar to use in this recipe.
This has been my go-to comfort food! Made it probably a half-dozen times, always a hit.
I found this recipe very bland. It was good to get me started cooking lentils but thats it.
This was a huge hit! It was our first time boiling our own lentils (rather than purchasing them canned), and oh my goodness, it turned out brilliantly. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration and yummy meals on a shoestring! This recipe is excellent and so filling. We added spinach to get in some leafy greens and it turned out great. :)
Didn’t taste like traditional curry, but whatever it was tasted amazing. It came out super fresh tasting with a tomato forward flavor.
If you like lentils, like I do, I invite you to try this recipe. It’s super easy and I just made it minutes ago. It tastes soooo good! I tend to use what’s on hand so there were a few substitutions – I used red lentils instead of brown ; added only another clove of garlic (cuz we love garlic and I say only because we will be around people later), did half Turmeric and half Curry powder; used diced tomatoes because I didn’t have tomato sauce and because I love more texture in my food anyway; and used fresh parsley as we didn’t have fresh cilantro on hand. Oh and a fresh squeeze of lemon before eating it (well, because everything just goes better with a fresh squeeze of lemon!). I will be making this regularly.
Hi Beth! I’m a big fan of this recipe, but like anybody else I dislike cleanup and prefer to condense multiple cooking sessions into one whenever possible. I was wondering if I could do this recipe using three times the ingredients used here, and cook it in a big 10 qt. pot (or whatever else will hold it, I don’t own a pan big enough for that much). Have you tried this, or can you comment on any changes that might be needed? Thanks!
Yep, if you have a pot big enough you should be able to just triple it without making any other major adjustments! :)
Oh man…these were freaking delish! I have had this sad jar of lentils in my pantry for so long because I just can’t find that many recipes I like for them (other than the lentil/feta salad in your cookbook, haha!). SoOoOo glad I tried these. Definitely going in the regular rotation!
This turned out so delicious
Soooo good. I used red lentils which turned super mushy but apart from that were absolutely fine. Added some garam masala and cayenne pepper to give it a bit more of a kick. Came out to maybe 50 Euro cents per portion. Amazing!
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe :)
I’m a novice at cooking, so if I can make this, anyone can.
Never feel compelled to leave comments but OMG THIS WAS AMAZING. I am just starting to cook more frequently and this is one of the best recipes I’ve ever made!!!! As I write this I’m struggling not to get seconds (and thirds). This would be really great with a mango chutney (something I’m sure everyone has lying around lol ;)). Also I used red lentils and they held up really well! However I’d like to try with brown lentils next time. Everyone make this!!!!!!!!
Fantastic. This is SO good. I love curry, and this is subtle and not overpowering for someone you want to introduce into it.
Hi! This looks good, but the recipe card is missing its photo link. Any way to fix so I can print & archive? Thanks!
All fixed! Thanks for letting me know! :)
This recipe is amazing! It fed me with so many different sides for a week at work. Vegetable samosa, butter chicken, with naan, soooooo good!
thank you again for all your hard work and beautiful recipes Beth! Saved me during Uni and now in the real world :)
can also serve with soy sauce. LEGENDARY.
Very simple and very good!
So delicious and sooooo easy. My 11 year old loved it and so did my spouse (both are enthusiastic meat eaters).
What am I dong wrong because my carrots are not very tender after only cooking them for five minutes with the onion. Please help! Thanks
Cooking time will vary with the size of the carrots, the type of pot used, and the heat of your stove top. If they’re not tender yet, just cook a little bit longer. :)
Great recipe thanks for sharing it! I’ve tried so many and this is one of my favorites :-) Super cheap and tasty!
I made this tonight with green lentils. It was so yummy. My husband loves Indian food and I’ve been apprehensive to try making it, but I’m not anymore! Your site is awesome, thank you so much!
Just wanted to let you know that this is one of my favorite recipes, I’ve made it at least 3 times and I am eating it again tonight. I also sub the carrots for sweet potatoes, yum!
Mmmmmm sweet potatoes are anazing ♡♡♡ and these lentils are addictive
Does anyone know what the diabetic exchanges or nutritional values are on this?
Hi DROz,
1 cup=1.5 Nonstarchy vegetables
1 Starch (Legume)
1 Fat
I am a dietitian and type 1 diabetic and just figured this out for myself (although I just count the carb grams outright).
Mmmmmmm. Who knew lentils could taste so good? I added a dollop of plain greek yogurt to my serving. Would recommend.
This was great. I had to modify it a tad because I was out of onions (how on earth does that happen?), but what I ended up with was delicious. Today I used the leftovers, with rice, to stuff some bell peppers (roasted them for a bit first) and that was amazing.
so good! i made this with a side of dill rice. plenty for dinner and lunch and dinner for the next day!
I love this site. I’m a college student living with my parents, and they don’t like me using up all their food for my lunches (unreasonable, I know.) So I’ve been taking the weird stuff that I know they’ll never use, a lb of lentils for instance, and using recipes from this site. I guess I just want to let you know that your work is well apreciated!
So much yum! I just used an entire bag of Goya lentils and just added the sautéed vegetables to the pot of lentils (more beans, same water amount—>no need to strain). I have a lot of lentils now that I’ve been eating for lunch and dinner almost every day but they’re still delicious.
I can’t believe how amazing this recipe is! And so hearty, too!
I added a huge pinch of garam masala to the tomato sauce before I mixed it in.
Phenomenal!
I made this a week ago and it was delicious. I froze the leftovers and reheated them last night with some coconut milk and some Thai chili peppers from the garden, I served it over yellow jasmine rice. Fantastic! Thanks for the great recipe.
I made this tonight and just finished eating it a minute ago. It was delicious. As I was prepping the vegetables I realized I didn’t have enough carrots so I added some cauliflower in addition, which turned out really well. Very easy to make, portions turned out larger than I expected, which I was happy with. I’m pleasantly full now.
Luv this recipe with red lentils. thank u so much.
I’ve made so many of your recipes Beth (your website is so amazing!) but this has got to be my favorite recipe I’ve tried yet! It’s so delicious and tastes so authentic! The most recent time I made this I used red lentils (I like their texture better), I used one Tbsp of curry paste along with 1 Tbsp curry powder (the paste is pretty inexpensive at my local grocery stores and it lasts forever, so if you plan on making any more curries you should definitely invest in some) and added some sausage that was nearing its expiration date. My favorite iteration of this recipe yet. Thank you so much for your website!
I made these for lunch today because I needed something vegan AND something I could use in my pressure cooker. The PC is a new toy for me;) SO SO good. My curry powder ended up being just a little spicy but no matter because I had to use some diluted tomato paste instead of tomato sauce and the spice kept the sauce from tasting too bland. I’ll definitely try it over rice with a fried egg. Maybe even for dinner tonight!
You should look into buying/using a pressure cooker if you dont have one. You have such great recipes on this website including this one that would benefit greatly (through time mostly) if you used one :)
Can’t wait to try this recipe this week. I am making the dragon noodles and fried rice for dinner tonight and I am so excited!
These were great! The spice was a great complement to the sweetness of the tomato sauce. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Wait, drain the water? What? No, make a very thick soup – start with sauteing the onion, garlic, carrots in olive oil, then add the lentils and water, cook, then add some finishing veggies whatever you like, zucchini, celery, etc, and some spices, simmer another 10 mins, and add some greens at the last 2 mins. Simmer till desired thickness. Same recipe, just different order, and you have the yummy broth.
Hi, when in the recipe you say ‘tomato sauce’ is a US only thing, I think the equivalent in the UK is ‘tomato passata’ – basically pureed tomatoes that you can get in a carton or jar.
Tomato sauce is also called marinara sauce, or even simply “pasta sauce”.
Tomato passata would be very simialr, but the sauce normally has italian spices in it.
I made this last night and am enjoying leftovers for lunch today! I added a a half a zucchini to the onioin/carrot mixture that needed to be used up and it’s a nice touch of green. Served this with the cashew rice pilaf and my house smelled amazing.
I’ve already made this twice! I added two chicken breasts cut into chunks, one cubed sweet potato and a can of diced tomatoes. The first time I served it over rice but the second time I served it over spaghetti squash. It was delicious!!
Nice and simple. I used canned lentils, as raw (?) ones are hard to come by where I live and expensive when you can find them. Turned out great!
One cup.. I’m not american and I don’t have cup thingies, only a scale (like we measure everything in europe!) and I have no clue how much a cup of lentils is…. does anyone have lentils and a scale and is nice enough to check for me how much a cup is? I was looking forward to making this :(
I know with water, 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces. And I know that an ounce is 28 grams. Not sure if that helps or not
Unfortunately it’s not that easy to convert recipes because each ingredient has a different density. So, you could use those conversion factors for water, but lentils have a different weight to volume ratio.
1 cup is roughly 240ml if that helps! If you have a standard metric measuring cup you should measure out that much.
Anne, my lentil bag says that 1/4 cup = 35 grams, so 140 grams per cup. I am assuming there may be a little variation depending on types of lentils you use but I hope that helps a bit!
Made this for dinner tonight with no changes and it was super delicious! I sometimes forget how tasty and good for you lentils are. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made this dish and it came out deliciously! I have never cooked lentils before, I am surprised how easy it is. I used some fresh diced tomatoes because I only had a little can of tomato sauce so in went the diced tomatoes and sauce. I served this with some plain cooked quinoa. Nice and filling. I agree, this is perfect to make a bowl of some sort.
Just made this,threw in some Sriracha (I’m surprised you didn’t), and loved it. I actually tried to google “sriracha lentils” when it was cooking and found myself typing “sriracha anonymous” (not joking!).
Hahahha awesome :P
Flavorful, hearty, easy – and welcoming of my improvisations. I used the rice cooker’s “white rice” program, and used the steamer basket to cook sweet potato at the same time. I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I used a can of tomato chunks plus a big spoonful of tomato paste. Thanks for a great recipe, Beth!
This looks fantastic. Now, I’ve noticed you do a lot of curries and the like, yet you never have addressed the elusive garam masala.
Hey Beth! Just wondering if you’ve ever tested any of your recipes that have brown lentils by replacing them with green lentils instead. I made your Dal Nirvana with green lentils and it was AWFUL – I cooked them long enough and I’m pretty sure the fault isn’t in the recipe because everything else I’ve tried out has been really good. This looks & sounds like something I’d love to try out but I’m sort of worried about trying it out with green lentils in case I end up having to throw all of it away – around here I can get brown lentils only from specialty shops so I’d have to take a trip to the city for them…
Hmm, in which way was it awful? I’ve never cooked green lentils because they just take so darn long, so I always opt for brown lentils (which actually look kind of olive green/brown). Brown lentils are the most common type you’ll find in the grocery, although they may not always go by that name (sometimes they’re just “lentils”). Describe how the Dal Nirvana was not what you expected and maybe we can trouble shoot it. :)
I used green lentils and it turned out great. It took forever to cook (I cooked the lentils in with the onions and carrots) but it was super good. I also added a can of coconut milk. :)
Hanna, you know it’s also possible that you just don’t like green lentils, or only like them prepared a certain way. I sometimes wonder if I have a gene that makes brown lentils taste bad to me (sort of like how my dad doesn’t find broccoli bitter but I do). For whatever reason brown lentils have a really earthy taste I dislike (I haven’t tried green but my guess is that they are similar). I favor lentils used in Indian food, such as moong dal, which doesn’t hold its shape but is much milder in flavor. But I don’t mind brown lentils in lentil soup or mujadarrah (lentils and rice with fried onions…I think the rice masks the earthiness and of course most of the flavor comes from the fried onions!)
So the recipe is probably fine, but you just don’t like green lentils. I suggest trying this with a milder lentil, like moong dal (check Amazon or your local Indian grocery store).
For the longest time I thought I didn’t like lentils or could not prepare them. Every time I ate at my Indian family’s house I liked them! I finally realized that all lentils are not the same.
I’m going to try out this recipe with my moong dal :-).
Wonderful insight! Thank you! :)
I thought it was ok… but to be fair the rest of the family hated it :(
i am not rating it because i just think it was a little to far from our normal flavor profile to be fair to the recipe.
I shouldn’t meal plan any more, just buy basics, go on the site and your tell us what we’re eating tonight! I have all those ingredients and it sounds really good!
Look yummy! Any idea on the calorie count per serving?
No, sorry, I don’t know. :P
Based on the brands of ingredients I used, it’s about 1000 calories for the entire recipe- so if you have four 1-cup servings, about 250 cals :)
I make pretty much exactly the same, but I add ginger and coconut milk to it. Its divine!!
Also last time I made this, I had a sweet potato looking at me, and used that as well. WOW!
Try it, you’ll love it!
That sounds really good! When do you add the coconut milk? Do you add it to the skillet or when you’re cooking the lentils?
Hi Teresa,
I use lentils that cook in 10 minutes, so I usually add the lentils to the skillet uncooked with some broth and after about 5 minutes I add the coconut milk so it gets absorbed by the lentils as well.
If you precook the lentils, add it with the lentils to the skillet. Its soooo yummy :)
I made that yesterday haha
How much coconut milk do you use?
i made this yesterday, using almost exactly the same ingredients, but in the slow cooker. lentils and water in the cooker, onions and carrots in the skillet to soften before going in the cooker. next time i’ll add the curry powder to the skillet too, to richen the flavor. i had a half can of tomato paste in the fridge, so used that, plus a small chopped pepper. very tasty, and it was even better today. loved it with the naan!
when cooking in the slow cooker, did you use the same amount of water as the original (3 cups)? what was the consistency like when it was done? i don’t want to get lentil soup but want the same thicker/drier consistency that beth got when using the stove top. just curious! thanks!
Any thoughts on using canned lentils instead?
You could probably use them, yes. Just drain and add where I added the cooked and drained lentils. :)
Personally, I’ve never had a problem with yellow lentils breaking down while cooking – only red lentils. I use yellow lentils whenever I make dal nirvana and it turns out great!
They don’t look un-pretty in your picture–they look delicious! I never would have thought of putting an egg on them, but your rice bowl suggestion sounds delish.