Crunchy Cook Recipe: Sweet Potato Daal Curry

The ultimate thrifty meal, about as healthy as they come but still satisfying and full of flavour. You can serve this by itself or with a range of condiments to jazz it up - lime pickle and mango chutney are excellent companions, and a dollop of natural yoghurt works a treat too.

We’ve made it as easy as possible for you to make this dish by packing the ingredients into a Crunchy Cook meal kit bag: we weigh everything out for you, include a recipe sheet and have filmed a step-by-step video showing you how to make it: How to Make Our Daal Video. Crunchy Cook bags save you time, cost almost the same as buying the ingredients separately in-store (we add 50p to cover packaging and packing), and cut food waste because you buy exactly what you need.

Find out more about the bags, including how to order them, here.

Serves 4 

Tip: the easiest way to peel ginger is to scrape off the skin with the edge of a teaspoon.

Ingredients

Basic recipe, ingredients included in the bag:
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 sweet potato, cut into 1.5cm cubes
250g red lentils, rinsed thoroughly
600ml vegetable stock made up from the stock cube provided
300g long-grain brown rice, rinsed thoroughly
A small handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Not included in bag:
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon oil or butter

Possible additions
1 finely chopped chilli, or ½ teaspoon of chilli flakes (or to taste)
A tablespoon of natural yoghurt
Lime pickle / mango chutney

Method

1.      Heat a tablespoon of oil or butter in a large saucepan with a lid.

2.      Add the chopped onion and fry over a low heat for 10 – 15 minutes, until soft and golden brown. You want some colour to it: with curries, colour = flavour.

3.      Add the crushed garlic, chopped ginger, turmeric, cumin, garam masala and a good pinch of black pepper (and chilli if using), and cook for a further minute or two until it all smells really fragrant. Don’t let the garlic brown or it can become bitter.

4.      Add the sweet potato and lentils and stir it all together so everything is covered in the spice.

5.      Tip in the tinned tomato and 600ml vegetable stock, give it a good stir then turn up the heat to bring to a boil.

6.      While that’s coming up to the boil, put the rice in a medium saucepan and fill with cold water to one centimetre above the level of the rice. Bring to the boil then immediately turn the heat right down, put the lid on and simmer as gently as you can until the water is all absorbed (about 20 minutes). Fluff up with a fork.

7.      Reduce the heat on the daal to a simmer, put on the lid and cook for 20 minutes until the lentils and potato are soft. Stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom and top up with a splash more water if it’s looking dry.

8.      Take the daal off the heat, test the seasoning and stir through most of the chopped coriander, keeping some back to scatter over at the end. Serve with the rice, with maybe a tablespoon of yoghurt on the side and some lime pickle or mango chutney.

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Cooking Techniques Explained

Sweat: cooking vegetables gently in oil or butter so they soften without browning too much. For example, to sweat onion means to gently cook it over a low heat until it turns translucent without browning. 

Boil: Heating a liquid until it bubbles vigorously.

Simmer: Heating until bubbles gently break the surface, below boiling point.

Dice: Cutting food into small cube shapes, about 0.5cm wide.

Crush: Usually used when preparing garlic: once you’ve chopped it as small as you can, crush it into a paste using the edge of your knife or a spoon to get as much flavour out as possible.

Sauté: quickly frying in a hot pan, in oil or butter.