Like the blog recipe I'm adapting for this post from A Couple Cooks, this was designed to use up some garden kale. When there wasn't enough, I added cauliflower leaves to get to the 8 cups. I'm not specifying what kinds of greens you should use because I want this to be adaptable. You'll get something closer to a traditional Indian dish if you use spinach. Collard or mustard greens will make it more Caribbean. No idea where kale comes from.
I happened to have red lentils on hand, but other kinds are absolutely ok. I saw that there are even black lentils in some fancy stores, which would provide an intriguing contrast. Just pay attention to how long they need to cook. Red are thin and cook even faster than the rice I spooned the stew into. Some green lentils take over half an hour to soften. There's nothing wrong with cooking them the day before and throwing this whole thing together in under half an hour.
1 C red (or other) lentils, dry
8 C leafy greens of choice, finely chopped
1 Tb olive oil
1 15oz can coconut milk
*2 tsp minced garlic
*1 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp curry powder (or more to taste)
2 Tb tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
*3 green onions, finely chopped
*juice of one lime
1. Start cooking lentils according to package directions. Separately, start to cook any rice you're serving it with.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, curry powder, and tomato paste. Cook into a fragrant spice base, about 3 minutes.
3. Add chopped green onions and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Work greens into the spices and cook until they start to wilt, which will depend on the type of greens used.
4. Add coconut milk to skillet and simmer until the lentils and rice are done. Taste and add salt or pepper as needed.
5. Stir lentils into greens mixture. This is when I realized the sauce was the same color as cooked red lentils. Oops. Stir in lime juice for a bit of freshness. Serve hot over rice.
Difficulty rating :)
I think kale is from Scotland
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