The rain falls hard on a hum drum town.......

I hope everyone is well on this rainy Thursday. I love the rain.....I love the smells, the sound, the clouds, the possibility of thunder and lightning, but I HATE being cold. One thing I love to do on cold rainy days is to cook a giant pot of soup or stew. It's something that will occupy my afternoon and warm me up in the process! Today I bring you....drum roll please.......Curried black lentils with potatoes and tomatoes. I love Indian food, especially being a vegetarian, because there are so many great options that are pretty healthy, and a lot of the dishes are one pot meals that aren't very difficult to master. Plus, the recipes are flexible so you can add whatever types of veggies you are in the mood for. Let's get started,


Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes- chopped in 1 inch cubes
1 cup-chopped yellow onion- (about 1 small-med onion)
1 cup-cherry tomatoes- you can use whole chopped tomatoes, but i like the cherry tomatoes because they keep their juice during the cooking process and break down once they get hot enough. Plus it saves time...WIN
1 cup- garbanzo beans
1 1/2 cups-lentils- Any color or type will work, I like Trader Joe's Black Beluga Lentils, they have a great flavor and texture, I like their size too, they are smaller than other lentils, plus they are pre-cooked so again, it's a time saver. **Make sure to cook your lentils prior to the recipe if you are using fresh dry lentils. Just add them to boiling water or veg stock and simmer until tender.
2 cups -vegetable stock
1/4 cup -unsweetened coconut milk
1 tbl. -tomato paste
1 tbl. -all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. -ground clove
2 tsp. -red curry powder
1 1/2 tbl. -yellow curry
2 tsp. -cumin
2 tsp. -ground ginger
3 large cloves garlic- chopped or put through garlic press
3 tbl. -olive or vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep all your ingredients. Put all the spices together in a small dish and set aside. Chop the potatoes and put them in a bowl of cold salted water, so that they don't turn brown, and to remove some of the starch. Chop onions, and be sure to rinse tomatoes and garbanzo beans.

Get a large pot or saucepan. Heat oil then add onions and garlic. Saute on low for 10-15 minutes, or until onion become transparent. Make sure not to burn the garlic or it will turn bitter.
Next, add dry spice mixture to onion and garlic. Mix well and let it simmer for 3 minutes.

Add tomato paste, and flour. Whisk until combined then add tomatoes, vegetable stock and potatoes. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add lentils, garbanzo beans, and coconut milk. Stir well and simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and sauce has thickened.

Once done, the sauce will be thick, potatoes will be tender and you can add salt and pepper to taste, you can also add cayenne pepper for a little more spice. The curry can be served with or without steamed rice and naan...mmmmm and you can top with a little bit of plain yogurt for a delicious finishing touch.







Here is a little rainy day playlist I listened to while cooking.