A great source of vegetarian protein, this one pot red lentil and sweet potato coconut curry is mild, tasty and quick to prepare making it a great midweek dinner. Suitable for vegans.
Both kids used to absolutely love curry but I’ve somehow got out of the habit of making it for them. Which is a real shame because they are an absolutely fantastic way to get lots of vegetables onto their plates, and hopefully into their tummies!
When Miss R was a baby she absolutely loved dahl on toast. And Mr R’s favourite dish for a while was the Annabel Karmel cheesy lentils recipe. Yet now, lentils are not very popular.
This dish however, proved to be an exception. They turned their noses up at it at first glance but hunger and the promise of a star on their “new foods” reward charts saved the day and the mild coconut flavour won them over. And with the addition of a bit of chilli us grown ups really enjoyed it too. It’s not often that we find a dish that everyone in this household likes!
Red lentil and sweet potato coconut curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp chilli powder optional or to taste
- 700 g sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
- 250 g red lentils
- 500 ml water
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- handful coriander finely chopped
Instructions
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Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry for a minute or two until starting to brown.
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Stir in the onion, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook, stirring often for 10 minutes or until soft.
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Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, ground coriander and chilli (if using), stir well and cook for a further minute.
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Stir in the sweet potatoes and mix well, ensuring that the spicy onion mix covers them well.
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Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil then reduce to a low heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lentils and sweet potatoes are cooked through.
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Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and add a dash more water if it's starting to look dry.
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Serve with the finely chopped coriander leaves and rice or chapatis.
If you like this you might also like this cauliflower, potato and chickpea curry, this simple curry sauce with hidden spinach or this easy potato curry with cumin.
Pin one pot red lentil and sweet potato coconut curry for later
This recipe and photographs were updated in June 2018.
I have added this post to Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Monika at Everyday Healthy Recipes.
I would probably omit the sweetcorn from this for personal taste, but I love the idea of mixing the sweet potato with lentils.
My three year old is going through a long phase of rejecting every vegetable apart from sweetcorn, which is why it’s in this recipe! It actually works quite well though. It’s also lovely without though. Thanks for the comment.
Such a lovely recipe Mandy! I love creamy and coconuty curries and any lentil dish is always a winner in our house. One to pin and try! x
Thanks so much Jo! Hope you enjoy it if you do try it x
Hi Mandy,
I would eat the whole bowl happily. Lentils are my life. We also make it in dry form to eat in wraps.
Thanks Balvinder. My little one likes to eat his in a wrap as well.
Am tempted to start attacking the computer screen this looks so good!!! Eb x
Ha ha! Don’t do that, I can’t guarantee it’ll taste any good.
it is absolutely delicious, thanks for this recipe. My only remark would be to change the description of ‘1 400ml tin of coconut milk’ in the ingredients list to ‘400 ml’. I read it as 1400 ml because all the other ingredients simply list the amount. It did taste good that way too… 🤦🏻♀
Hi Sara – wow that is a lot of coconut milk! Thanks for the tip, will edit x