Winter is here, and so are soups and stews.. I'd say this is more of a hybrid between the two, and is a very light but super delicious dish that uses mainly pantry ingredients!
In lockdown I stoked up on my favourite instant umami enhancing ingredients such as, vegan fish sauce and liquid Koji which I've added to this recipe , but they're easily taken out of the recipe!
Hope you enjoy this one!
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried Brown/Green Lentils
1 Medium Sweet Potato (Peeled and Cut into Medium cubes)
One Medium Brown Onion/Shallot
2 Cloves Of Garlic
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3-4 cups of Boiling Water
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
1 Teaspoon Vegan Fish Sauce (Optional)
1 Tablespoon Liquid Koji (Optional)
Vegetable Stock Cube
3-4 cups of boiling water
1/2 Lemon
Salt and Pepper To Taste
Spices:
4 Teaspoons of Curry Powder
1 Teaspoon of Ground Coriander
2 Pimento Seeds
Dollops of Vegan Unsweetned Yogurt
Shop Bought Caramelised Onion Jam/Chutney
Recipe:
Start by dicing onion and chopping up sweet potato and garlic. In a deep bottom saucepan/casserole dish bring to a medium heat. Using the tablespoons of olive oil sauté onion for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add the spices & maple syrup to toast in the oil with a pinch of salt to bring out the flavour. Toast until fragrant for a few minutes. At this point if needed add a splash of water to free up any browned spices/onions.
Now add lentils and garlic to the pan. Then add the water, vegan stock cube (& vegan fish sauce, koji which is optional) allow to come to the boil and but on a medium heat. Not too low. Add sweet potato's and allow to cook for 20-25minutes, checking for levels of water. After the sweet potato is tender, using a wooden spoon crush some of them to create a slightly thicker sauce. Check for seasoning with salt and pepper and the finish with the juice of half a lemon.
Serve with a dollop of vegan yogurt and camarilsed onion jam/chutney! Warm some sourdough bread/flatbread and dig in!
