Squash and Red Lentil Curry

I love curries, they taste amazing and you can pack them with so much of the good stuff. I never bothered to measure out the ingredients and just throw in a bit of this and a bit of that, but they always tasted amazing. Then when I started Natalie Naturally, I needed to start measuring out what I was adding so you guys could recreate them. Every time I start a new curry now, I write out what I put in, and low and behold it's different every time, even if I am trying to make the same one. I am so pleased I now I have a record of my curry recipes as even though they are always really tasty, I have never made same one twice. Now I can recreate the exact curry whenever I like, without guessing.

SERVES:
8

Ingredients
Instructions

Ingredients

Approx. 300g diced onions

3 large garlic bulbs grated or crushed

A very large 2 in inch hunk of ginger roughly peeled and grated

1 tsp black mustard seeds

2 tsp ground turmeric

The stalks from a bunch of coriander roughly chopped

2 tsp medium curry powder

3-4 curry leaves (optional)

2 tsp Chaat masala or Garam masala

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼-1tsp chilli flakes depending on your preference for heat. I stay on the lower end

1 tin full fat coconut milk

2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 tsp ketchup or coconut sugar (optional)

1-2tsp salt

A very good grinding of black pepper

200ml water

1 vegetable stock pot or cube

200g red lentils rinsed well

500-600g roasted squash of your choice or pumpkin cut into bite sized chunks (you can swap in for carrots and or sweet potato

Juice of half a lime

Red onion, pomegranate and coriander chutney (serves 4 double up if needed)

1 red onion sliced

Seeds from a pomegranate

Handful of coriander leaves

1 tsp salt

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp black onion/nigella seeds

Black pepper

To serve

Coconut yogurt or other non-dairy yogurt

Chapattis

Rice

Naan

Cauliflower rice

Chilli slices

Chopped almonds

Instructions

Get your squash on to roast by simply chopping into chunks drizzling with olive oil, throwing in some garlic cloves and herbs if you have them on hand, salt and pepper. Roast until the flesh is soft and it's golden around the edges 30-40mins at 180°C.
Take a large pan, and add a couple of tbsp. of oil such as ground nut or coconut oil. Heat on medium, add your diced onions and cook until starting to go translucent and lightly caramelise.
Turn the heat down to low, add in you garlic and ginger and stir till combined, allow to cook for a minute or so. Now add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, coriander stalks, curry powder, chaat masala or garam, cinnamon, chilli flakes. Stir to combine and allow to cook for a minute or so until fragrant.
Add the coconut milk and stir till combine, followed by the tinned tomatoes, ketchup or sugar, water and stock pot. Bring the heat up to a gentle simmer for a few minutes then reduce to a low-medium heat. Allow all the flavours to infuse and intensify. Stirring occasionally.
Now make your chutney, add your onion, lemon juice and salt to a bowl. With your hands scrunch together to allow the onion to release its juices and lightly pickle in the acid from the lemon. Add in the pomegranate and crush some of the seeds into the onion to release their sweet juices. Finish by stirring through the coriander, nigella seeds and a good grating of black pepper. Set aside.
After about 10 mins have a little taste, add salt, pepper and the lime juice. Taste again.
Add in your rinsed lentils and squash bring the heat up slightly and allow to cook for a further 15mins. Stirring occasionally.
Whilst the curry is finishing off, prepare any sides you may have such as rice, chapattis, naan, set your table and warm your plates.
When you're ready to serve check again for seasoning and consistency, if itâ€™s quite thick and you like it looser add a little water and stir. The lentils will continue to thicken it once cooled as well.
Serve in bowls with dollops of yogurt and spoon full of chutney.
This will serve 8 maybe 10, so if you're not feeding that many people either half the recipe or freeze in serving sizes.it will thicken once cooled, so when you re heat you can add a little water to loosen.
Don't forget it tastes amazing the next day, wrapped up in a left over chapatti like an Indian burrito!