Lentil Sweet Potato Curry

Source: Taste of Home

While we love Indian food, I have to my credit a long list of Indian recipes I've tried with only mediocre results. Nothing even comes close to the "This is so worth stuffing myself to the rafters" level of deliciousness that Indian restaurants always achieve. While I'm not sure this recipe is quite on par with the Bombay house, we both took one bite of this dish and knew it was love.

Lentil Sweet Potato Curry

3/4 C. dried lentils, rinsed

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium or 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped

4 tsp. curry powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium apple, peeled and chopped

1 T. brown sugar

Chopped cilantro for garnish, optional

Hot cooked brown rice for serving, optional

1. In a small sauce pan, combine lentils and enough water to cover them; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes (or more) or until tender.

2. In a large saucepan sprayed with non-stick spray, saute onion until tender. Add carrots and garlic; cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in the sweet potatoes, curry, salt, pepper, and 1 C. water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, apple, and brown sugar; cover and cook 10-15 minutes longer or until apple is tender. Stir in lentils; heat through. Garnish with cilantro if desired, serve with rice if desired.

*Notes: The original recipe called for 1 C. lentils. That looked like a lot to me, so I only ended up using about 3/4 of them. Also, I thought about trying the recipe with a can of diced tomatoes (since fresh are expensive in the winter) but used fresh anyway. In the future the diced might be an easy addition, though.