Which jarred lentils do you buy?

I make this recipe with a jar of Biona's organic 360g brown lentils in water - I also love and use their coconut milk in this recipe too. However, use whatever brand you like, just make sure it is of similar weight - no need to 100% stick to the 360g.

Can I serve this lentil curry with rice?

Yes of course! I was originally planning to when I set about tweaking this recipe, but then I realised with the carrots, potatoes, lentils and egg this curry made two perfect main-course bowlfuls without added rice which suits me really well. However, you'll easily stretch this recipe to serve 3 over rice. You might want the curry to be saucier over rice, so perhaps add a little more water to the finished curry to thin it our a little.

Japanese Lentil Curry | Rachel Phipps

Name: Japanese Lentil Curry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 200ml full fat coconut milk (1/2 tin); 2 1/2 curry blocks (check they’re a vegan variety if this matters to you!); 2 medium potatoes; 2 medium carrots; 360g jar brown lentils in water; sea salt, to taste; 2 x 6-minute soft boiled eggs, to serve; sushi ginger, to serve; toasted black sesame seeds, to serve

Description

This super easy Japanese Lentil Curry is the perfect one-pot vegan meal. Eat it by itself, with rice, topped with a soft-boiled egg, or add a tangle of pickled sushi ginger – whatever you fancy!

Ingredients

Scale

200ml full fat coconut milk (1/2 tin)
2 1/2 curry blocks (check they’re a vegan variety if this matters to you!)
2 medium potatoes
2 medium carrots
360g jar brown lentils in water
sea salt, to taste
2 x 6-minute soft boiled eggs, to serve
sushi ginger, to serve
toasted black sesame seeds, to serve

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Instructions

Combine the coconut milk with 200ml of water in a medium saucepan. Set over a gentle heat and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, peel the vegetables, and cut the potatoes into generous chunks, and slice the carrots into 1.5cm pieces on the diagonal. This will give them more surface area and help them cook to tender at the same rate as the potatoes.
Crumble in the curry blocks, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the vegetables and the lentils, including the water from the jar.
Bring to a generous simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often to make sure the lentils don’t stick to the bottom. In this time the curry should thicken, and the carrot and potato pieces should become tender.
Check the vegetables are done – if they need a little longer but you’re worrying about the curry thickening too much, just add a splash of water. Add a little salt if you think it needs it (this will depend on the brand of your curry blocks) and serve in bowls topped with the soft-boiled eggs, a tangle of sushi ginger and a couple of sesame seeds.

Notes

Leftovers re-heat beautifully; keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days, re-heating in the microwave, or on the stovetop with a splash more water to allow for where the liquid has soaked into the potatoes whilst they’re resting.