Red Lentil Zucchini Curry

Red Lentil Zucchini Curry

I wouldn't say that cooking curry is my forte but I have great love for it. There's always so much to explore with the tremendous variety of spices and curry powder that is available in the market. Half the names challenge my memory!

There was a period in my young life that I avoided cooking 'dal' altogether because I was under the impression that it involved long soaking and cooking hours < ----  conclusion made after seeing the amount of effort mom puts into it.

I had not realised then that there was more than one variety of dal. Oh, don't snigger. In all my early childhood, I had only ever been introduced to mung dal aka yellow lentils.

The ignorance bubble was burst when I steeled my spirit to master mom's recipe. By golly and wonderment! It seemed that there was more to dal than I imagined. That's how far my assumptions got me, a step nowhere.

Whole red lentils (Masoor Dal), I have now discovered, are my favourite. A quick 30-minute soak before cooking and just half an hour of simmering time to reach desired state of mushiness. Hah!

I'm sharing this recipe because I love it so much. It is a tasty flavourful vegetable dish that arose out of a desperate need to clear zucchini from the fridge. Incorporating it into a red lentil curry recipe is nothing new but I have never tried it ...until now, that is.

Red Lentil Zucchini Curry
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup whole red lentils (soaked for 30 mins, rinsed)
- 2 medium tomatoes (cut into wedges and halved)
- 1 cup zucchini (cubed, skin removed)
- ½ medium carrot (cubed)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- ¼ cup tomato puree
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1½ tsp chili powder
(Use a tbsp of water or more to mix turmeric and chili powder into paste)
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- 4 cups water more or less
- 1 to 2 tbsp cooking oil

Adding an aromatic touch of flavour 
(To be done before serving)
- 1 small red onion (thinly sliced)
- ½ red chili (thinly sliced)
- ¼ tsp black mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp cooking oil

(Note: Heat oil in pan. Fry thinly sliced onions and fresh chili together with fennel seeds and mustard seeds until crisp)

How-to:
1) Heat oil in large pan. Saute garlic and onions.

2) Stir in turmeric and chili powder wet paste. Fry it a little.  

3) Then, add tomato puree, fresh tomatoes, carrots and zucchini. Mix well.

4) Stir in red lentils.

5) Add water. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for half an hour or less until lentils look smashed.

6) Using a potato masher, roughly mash the larger ingredients. That's it!

7) Serve with fried chili, spices and onion stirred in (fried separately in another pan - see note above on adding an aromatic touch).

1) The ingredients
2) Stir in chili powder and turmeric
3) Add lentils and water
4) Simmer until lentils are soft, mash the larger ingredients a little

Red Lentil Zucchini Curry - Serve with fried chili, onions, spices. Stir before enjoying!

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I'm submitting this post to Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event by Bunny.Eats.Design aimed at connecting food bloggers and inspiring us to try new things.

This month's event is hosted by Alice from nom nom cat. Check out her yummy food posts!