Lentil-Barley Curry with Carrots and Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup green lentils
• 1 tablespoon barley
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 large onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon all-spice
• [optional] A few shakes of cayenne pepper
• 2 carrots (chopped in large pieces)
• 1-2 potatoes (chopped)
• 1 1/2 tablepoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups vegetable broth

Instructions

1. In a medium pot on high, add olive oil, lentils, barley, and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and cook for 10-20 minutes until tender.
2. While the lentils and barley are cooking. Prepare the vegetables.
3. In a large pot, on high, heat canola oil. When warm, add onions, garlic, and all-spice. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add in carrots, potatoes and curry powder (optionally cayenne pepper) to the onion and garlic, sauté for a minute. Add in tomato paste and lentil-barly then add in broth and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Serve with rice (and if you're looking to spritz it up a bit add a few shakes of coriander while it cooks).

Inspiration

I was cooking basmati rice and I wanted to have a curry with it. So I did a cursory look for something "quick." I came across this beef curry recipe that I wanted to make vegetarian. I also used all-spice instead of ginger because some how I lost my root. I was rather distraught over it, because I am never in a house with out some ginger!

Closing

This might be the best curry I have ever made, despite not having ginger. It helps to have the right rice for the texture that you might be looking for. For another recipe, a few months ago, I made my own curry powder (I never recorded it) and used it for this. The original recipe suggested using coriander, and I added it to the rice which really added some texture and flavour. I found that the [Better Than Bouillon] vegetable broth has a more "beef" flavour, and I chose that to follow in spirit of the original.

Anyway, it's been a while since I made a post, and this is what pulled me out there to do it!

Give this a try!