Bringing You Yummy Recipes with The Vegan Society: African Curry Delight
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with The Vegan Society to bring you a series of delightful and nutritious vegan recipes. To kick things off, we’re sharing a mouth-watering curry recipe that promises to be a staple in your kitchen.
Curry is one of those magical dishes with an aroma that captivates and a flavor profile that perfectly balances sweet and savory with a touch of heat. Whether it’s a cold winter evening or a warm summer night, this curry is bound to be a hit.
This dish is particularly well-known in South Africa. Traditionally it is made using beef, but here we use protein-packed lentils along with minced mushrooms to give it that umami kick.
This healthy, quick and easy recipe won’t leave you hungry. We hope you enjoy it.
Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 17 minutes, plus cooling
Total time: 1 hour 27 minutes
Ingredients
Stage 1
- 500g chestnut mushrooms, grated using a food processor or by hand
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
Stage 2
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ white onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Stage 3
- ¼ tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp tomato pure
- 40ml soy sauce
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Stage 4
- 3 vine tomatoes, finely chopped
- 350ml vegetable stock
- 75g brown lentils
- 10ml vegetable oil
Stage 5
- 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Pinch of salt
Stage 6
- Cooked-down mushrooms (from Stage 1)
- 400g tinned coconut milk
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Basmati rice (serves 4)
Ingredients
- 200 g Basmati white rice
- 375 ml water
- Garnish
- Parsley (optional)
Curry Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 356°F / Gas mark 4
- Add the ingredients from Stage 1 into a large pan and cook down for 15-20 minutes, stirring continuously. Ensure all the water has evaporated from the mushrooms and they start to fry. Take off the heat and put them in a dish to one side.
- In the same large pan, sweat down the ingredients from Stage 2 on a medium-high heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring continuously. It’s done when the onions and celery start going translucent.
- Add Stage 3 ingredients to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add Stage 4 ingredients to the pan and mix well. Allow to cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils have absorbed most of the water, making sure to stir occasionally.
- During this time, roast the tomatoes. Mix the cherry tomatoes in the oil and salt (Stage 5 ingredients), place on a baking tray seed-side up and roast for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
- Add Stage 6 ingredients to the pan and mix well. Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point, start cooking the rice (see below).
- Serve hot with cooked rice and garnish with parsley (optional), along with the roasted cherry tomatoes.
Rice Method
- Place the water and rice in a medium-sized pan over a medium-high heat.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down low and cover with a lid.
- Leave for 13 minutes, keeping the lid on to trap the steam.
- Turn the heat off and leave the rice to sit for 10 minutes, keeping the lid on.
- Remove the lid, fluff with a rice paddle or fork, and serve!
Recipe by Ngwafu Tansie for The Vegan Society. Follow Ngwafu on Instagram and Facebook, or visit Ngwafu’s website.