Masoor Dal (Curry Red Lentil Stew)

Very flavorful and spicy, I tried this for the first time with red lentils I found in the bulk department of the grocery store. Don't substitute other lentils for this as the red lentils cook up creamy and are much smaller in size than regular green or brown lentils. They also look amazing with the rich colors you get from making your own curry spice blend. The sweet potatoes add a touch of sweetness and nice rich orange/red color as well.

If you don't like spicy hot, cut back on the chili pepper by at least half if not more.This is a wonderful dish to make on a cold, rainy or snowy day. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and less than 5 minutes of prep time. As the onions and sweet potatoes are cooking, measure out the spices in a small dish so you can just add them all at once. Breathe in the aromas from cooking the spices. I'm convinced even that will make you feel healthy! :)

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cups (about 12-15 oz) small dice sweet potatoes, peeled (I used organic garnet)
1 Tbsp (heaping) minced fresh ginger
2 large cloves minced garlic
1 Thai red chili OR 1 1/2 tsp ground Thai Chili pepper or cayenne pepper
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground turmeric (can use fresh if you want, finely diced)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Penzey's Sweet Curry powder
1/2 tsp Penzey's Hot Curry powder
A pinch of both ground cloves and ground cinnamon
1 cup canned diced tomatoes or 2 plum tomatoes diced
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed well
4 cups liquid (chicken, vegetable broth or water)
1 tsp salt
Lemon juice (about 2-3 tsp)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
shredded unsweetened coconut
Mango-ginger chutney

In a large pot, melt oil and saute' onion, sweet potato, ginger and garlic until onion is soft and a bit caramelized (about 5 minutes). Add the mustard and cumin seeds and saute' until fragrant and mustard seeds start to pop. Add the rest of the spices and saute and blend until a nice color appears and you can smell the deliciousness coming from the pan. Be sure not to burn spices, so stir frequently to coat the sweet potato and onions.

Add the tomatoes and scrap any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Then add the liquid and the lentils. Stir well and bring to a boil. Turn to a simmer and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes. You can also cover it, but lift cover several times to stir and to make sure the lentils don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep an eye on it, as it will thicken. Add salt to taste (I added about 1 tsp). Continue to cook until stew is thick and lentils are soft. It will take about 25-30 minutes total. Cover it and turn off heat once it is thick and lentils are soft to keep it warm. Mash up the potatoes and lentils a bit if they are a little chunky to make this more of an amalgamated dish.

Serve with a sprinkle of cilantro, coconut and a small spoonful of chutney on the side. You can eat this with warm naan, basmati rice or without any additional starch. It can be served as a main dish or as a side dish to any meat or fish you might want with it. Very flavorful and spicy. If you don't like spicy hot, cut back on the chili pepper by at least half if not more.

Makes 4 dinner sized servings. Each serving is about 480 calories. If you serve as a side dish, this will serve 8 at 240 calories.It is loaded with potassium, fiber, protein, vitamin A and iron. You can cut down on fat by using half the coconut oil and trimming 30 calories per serving.

Note: You can also stir in 1/2 cup of coconut milk at the end to make it more creamy. I didn't do this, but I might try it that way next time.