I adapted this curried lentils with roasted sweet potatoes recipe from one I found in the New York Times. That recipe called for unsplit red lentils, which I cannot come by locally, so I adapted it to work with green and split red lentils instead.
I used both lentil types because I wanted body and texture in the dish. Split red lentils (pictured below) cook very fast and get very soft. This adds great body, but it does not provide texture. The green lentils (the common grocery store variety), which are unsplit, require more cooking time but do not become mushy when cooked.
You might be thinking, why not just replace unsplit red lentils with unsplit green lentils and call it even. Well, in my opinion, red lentils have a superior flavor. Green lentils are great, but very earthy. Red lentils on the other hand are mild and almost sweet in comparison.
In my other sweet potato curry recipe, the sweet potatoes are cooked right in the curry and all the flavors get to meld together nicely that way. In this recipe, the sweet potatoes are roasted in the oven and mixed into the curry after most of the cooking is complete. This way the sweet potato flavor is preserved and more prominent, and adds a touch more texture.
Tips and Tricks for the Curried Lentils with Roasted Sweet Potatoes recipe:
- How to cook the sweet potatoes: Roasted sweet potatoes in the oven is a hands off method that is fool proof. You could also pan sear them, grill them, or even cook them in the curry if you prefer.
- Cooking the lentils: Green lentils need more cooking time than red lentils so you will first mix in the green, then the red lentils 8 minutes later. Lentils can get tough if cooked in salt so I cook them without broth or stock and add vegetable broth base (a paste) to the curry after the lentils are cooked.
- Frozen vs fresh spinach: I find that frozen spinach works just fine in this application. It is easier to keep on hand as a pantry staple and can be less expensive as well.
- Serve with my 50/50 Whole Wheat Flatbreads.
- If you meal prep: Make the flatbreads(above) and roasted sweet potatoes in advance. The entire curry makes great leftovers so the whole thing can be made in advance as well.
- 1 lb sweet potato (1 large or 2 small), cubed (½ inch in size)
- 3 TBS olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 TBS Thai red curry paste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ cup green lentils
- 2 ¾ cups water
- ½ cup red split lentils
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 TBS vegetable broth base
- ¾ cup coconut milk (half a 15-oz can)
- 3 oz frozen cut spinach
- 1 TBS fresh lime juice (from ½ a lime)
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Toss sweet potatoes with 1 TBS olive oil and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.
- In a medium dutch oven saute the onion in the remaining 2 TBS olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red curry paste, garlic, ginger and turmeric and saute for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add the brown lentils and water and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the red split lentils and simmer for another 8 minutes, or until both types of lentils are tender.
- Mix in the roasted sweet potatoes, salt, vegetable broth base, coconut milk and frozen spinach. If you like a thinner curry, add more water. Allow the spinach to thaw and the stew to heat through again, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice. Serve with rice and/or flatbread.
