As the colder months hit there’s something in me that just craves a cozy warm meal. I recently had a delicious lentil curry at my mom’s house and decided to use that as an inspiration for a fall micronutrient dense curry at home. I am not one who follows recipes, I like to read a bunch of versions, learn from them and make my own. So I set out to create a meal prep that was a fall version of curry with lots of micros!
This pumpkin lentil curry has bell pepper for Vitamin C, carrots for beta carotene (our bodies convert it to Vitamin A), pumpkin for Vitamin A, C and potassium (plus call me basic, but who doesn’t love pumpkin in the fall?), ginger for flavor and Vitamin B3 and B6, and sweet potato for a little magnesium and extra fiber.
The addition of pumpkin to this recipe adds a nice subtle depth to the flavor of the curry and the full fat coconut milk adds some creaminess. You can of course make some substitutions to this recipe with opting for light coconut milk, changing the chicken for tofu or removing entirely, or swapping in any veggie of your choice.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
• 1 lb chicken breast chopped into pieces
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 2 large carrots diced
• 1/2 white onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic diced
• 1 tbs fresh ginger diced or grated
• 1 cup lentils (I used 1/2 red 1/2 black)
• 1 sweet potato chopped
• 1 small can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 can chicken or vegetable broth
• ⅓ cup puréed pumpkin
• 1 tbs red curry paste
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
How to Make It
Let the lentils soak in some water while you do the first steps so they start to soften.
In a pot (I used my large cast iron, but you can use a Dutch oven, stock pot etc.) heat up a tbs of coconut oil and sauté the onion.
Then when onion is soft add in the garlic and ginger.
Once that is fragrant, toss in the chicken and cook until mostly cooked through.
Once the chicken is mostly cooked through add in the carrots, bell pepper, sweet potatoes. Stir together and then add in the dry spices.
Then once it feels well combined, add in the tomatoes, coconut milk, curry paste, the pumpkin, and some of the broth. Take your time with the broth as you may not need the whole can, so use a little at a time. Mix this together until the curry paste has dissolved and it looks well combined.
Once the liquids are combined add in the lentils and gently stir.
Let this simmer for 30-40 mins. Add broth as needed. I ended up not using much of the broth as I didn’t want the liquid too thin. So adjust as you prefer.
Once it has simmered and the veggies and sweet potatoes are soft, remove from the heat and serve. I have served this with white and brown rice, but you can easily eat this without it and just on its own.
Nutrition information for one serving of curry (without rice):
183 calories
13 g carbs
8 g fat
15 g protein
3 g fiber
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