Rich, simple and absolutely delicious - this curry hits all the right spots for the perfect recipe to make during the week. The curry base is made from blending sweetcorn and mixing it though curry spices and creamy coconut milk. The recipe uses roasted aubergine but you can replace it with roasted sweet potato, cauliflower, butternut squash - anything you have at home.
Make extra or if cooking for yourself save the rest and enjoy throughout the week with naan bread, brown rice or enjoy as an easy pack lunch (it’s as good cold as it is hot).
Serves 4 & takes 35 minutes to cook
Ingredients
2 aubergines (or any other vegetable you have at home)
340g sweetcorn (from a can)
200g dry red lentils
Large handful of spinach
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
Juice of 1 lime
1x 400g can of coconut milk
Dash of almond milk (or any other milk)
Pinch of salt
Olive oil
To serve (all optional)
1 dollop of yoghurt (plain or coconut yoghurt)
Handful of coriander, chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C, fan setting.
2. Cut the aubergine into bite-sized chunks and place into a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt and cook for 30-35 minutes until soft. Once soft, remove from the oven and leave to one side until needed. If you're using another vegetable here, simply roast for as long as needed to become soft.
3. Blitz the sweetcorn (and everything in the can) in a powerful blender (we use a NutriBullet) until it comes together to form a thick paste and all of the big kernels have broken down. Leave to one side until needed.
4. Place a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the onion, garlic and a large pinch of salt. Cook for 5-10 minutes until soft. Once soft, add the spices and mix well - cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Add the sweetcorn sauce to the pan, along with the lime juice, coconut milk and red lentils. Mix well and leave to cook for 20 minutes until the red lentils become soft - adding a splash of almond milk if the mixture ever becomes too thick or begins to stick to the bottom of the pan.
6. Once soft, mix through the cooked aubergines and spinach. Cook over the heat for a few more minutes until the spinach wilts.
7. If using, mix through some plain yoghurt and sprinkle with chilli flakes and coriander.
Tips:
- Make sure to use red lentils in this recipe for their colour, cooking time and texture.
- If you don't have all of the spices, you can replace them for curry powder.