Indian Red Lentil Stew

Red lentils are one of those ingredients I always keep on hand specifically for evenings when I need dinner to happen fast and without much thinking. They dissolve into a soft, creamy base in under 15 minutes of simmering, which makes them ideal for a stew like this one. The technique here — toasting the dry spices before anything else goes into the pot — is the move that turns a simple weeknight stew into something that smells like it’s been simmering all afternoon. Don’t skip it, and don’t rush it.

The coconut milk adds body and rounds out the heat; if you want it richer, use the full-fat version. If you want it lighter, swap half the coconut milk for more broth.

Servings: 4 Total time: ~35 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 250 g red lentils
• 2 bell peppers, diced (any colour, though red or orange are sweeter)
• 400 ml vegetable broth
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 340 g diced tomatoes (one small can, or 3–4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced into rings
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 pinches black pepper

Method

1. Toast the spices. Add the mustard seeds and curry powder to a dry, cold pot. Heat over medium — they’ll start popping and releasing their fragrance after a minute or two. Keep stirring so nothing burns.

2. Build the aromatics. Add the oil, then the garlic and ginger. Stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant but not browned.

3. Add lentils and pepper. Tip in the red lentils and diced bell pepper, stir everything to coat in the spiced oil, and let it all sauté together for a minute.

4. Deglaze and boil. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

5. Simmer. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 10–15 minutes, until the lentils are completely soft and the stew has thickened to your liking. Stir occasionally — red lentils like to stick toward the end.

6. Finish. Stir in the spring onions. Season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust.

Serve with flatbread, rice, or just as it is with a spoon.

Notes

On the curry powder. The recipe doesn’t specify which kind, which means any medium-heat blend works. I tend to use a Madras-style powder for more depth, but a generic supermarket blend is fine — the mustard seeds and ginger do most of the heavy lifting anyway.

On the ginger. “Walnut-sized” translates to roughly 20–25 g, which is about a 3 cm knob. Go bigger if you like heat and fragrance; leave it closer to the measurement if you’re cooking for people who are ginger-averse.

Make it thicker. If the stew looks too thin after 15 minutes, crank the heat slightly and let it bubble uncovered for another 3–4 minutes. Red lentils will thicken significantly as the stew cools, so account for that.

Keeps well. Leftovers reheat beautifully the next day — add a splash of water or broth when reheating since it will have thickened overnight.