Creamy Coconut, Brown Lentil & Vegetable Curry

When you’re after an easy and hearty nutritious dinner idea, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat this vegan-friendly curry.

While curries are a perfect kitchen dish for adventuring into complex flavours, this recipe contains just a few fun and simple ingredients to explore, like ginger and curry powder. This makes it a lovely beginner’s curry recipe to venture into the world of.

As a Registered Nutritionist, I’m all for plant-forward recipes that celebrate legumes, like lentils, chickpeas and beans. These versatile, yet humble, ingredients are not only affordable, but great pantry staples to boost the plant protein and dietary fibre in meals (like in this red lentil and spinach dahl!).

Ingredients & Substitutions

This coconut lentil curry contains simple ingredients, many that are shelf-staple:

• Aromatics. We’re using onion, garlic and ginger here. When sautéed they work together to add complexity and depth to the dish.
• Mild Indian curry powder. A blend of spices, typically including turmeric, cumin, ginger and black pepper. For ease, I just use a generic supermarket blend (but you could totally try making your own).
• Mixed veggies. Feel free to use fresh or frozen. Curries, like this, can be a great way to use up whatever looks a bit sad and limp in the crisper. Carrot, broccoli, peas and beans work great.
• Tinned tomatoes. Help create our sauce base, thickening the curry and adding a tangy sweetness that helps balance the spices and coconut milk.
• Tinned coconut milk. Like the tomatoes, coconut milk helps build our sauce base, while adding a luxurious creaminess.
• Tinned lentils. A convenient read-to-go option – simply open the can, drain the liquid and rinse! Brown lentils hold their shape well in cooking, making them great in curries. Feel free to substitute for chickpeas or another typer of bean.
• Lemon. A squeeze adds brightness and freshness to the dish, help to balance the flavours.
• Chili flakes. For a spicy kick. Add to taste.

To further boost the protein, while keeping it plant-based, add a block of cubed firm tofu to your shopping list💪

Nutrition Q&A

Here are a few commonly asked questions on curry and brown lentil nutrition:

Is curry healthy? Curry is an umbrella word for a meat or vegetarian dish consisting of a gravy or sauce, flavoured with aromatics and spices. They can be incredibly nutritious, but like anything in nutrition it’s a sum of its parts.

Curries with plenty of veggies and a good source of protein (whether legumes or lean meat) can help make for a filling meal with nutrient diversity. Curries with oodles of oil or cream may be better as a sometimes food.

As for spices, while used primarily for their culinary powers (to flavour food, add colour…), they bring nutritional perks to the table. For example, turmeric, a spice that gives curry a vibrant yellow curry, contains curcumin which is considered a powerful antioxidant, which may help fight oxidative damage which may otherwise damage cells (1).

What’s the nutritional deal with brown lentils? Brown lentils are a great source of filling prebiotic fibre, a type that feeds good bugs in our gut that promote digestive function.

They’re also a good source of plant protein, about a third-highest by weight of any legume or nut (after soybeans and hemp seeds). It’s good to keep in mind, they’re considered an ‘incomplete’ protein (meaning they don’t contain all essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein, needed for good health), which is why enjoying a varied diet will help you get in the full spectrum. Easy as🤙

Thanks for reading! Are you after more legume based plant-forward meal ideas? Try this Chili Sin Carne (vegan chili) with dark chocolate!🍫