It’s kale season! Last week, I was looking for a way to use up some of the kale I had picked up at Tau and I came up with a super yummy dish, but I made one mistake: I didn’t write down the ingredients! When my folks came over unexpectedly and finished off the lot, I decided to dig through my memory cells and come up with a recipe. And voila, here it is! Actually, with one minor difference; the first time I made it I used cooked chickpeas. For a chickpea version, simply reduce the liquid to 1 cup, reduce cooking time, and add the chickpeas after the kale and sweet potato are cooked.
I realized while going back over my steps that the one ingredient that made a big difference was the creamed coconut, which is available in almost any store in my neighbourhood. Isn’t Montreal a great city for the cooking hack?!
PS I’ve included my recipe for my own garam masala; if I have broken any rules, I apologize, or maybe not. The flavour is worth it!
Ingredients
¾ cup lentils
3 cups vegetable broth, or water
1-796 ml can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ sweet potato, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 bunch of kale, washed, dried, large stems removed and chopped
4-5 tablespoons creamed coconut (or thick coconut milk)
1 teaspoon sea salt, more or less, to taste
1 heaping tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon curry powder
Garam Masala (my personal mix)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
1½ teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon fenugreek
Instructions
Cook onions in a bit of cooking oil until softened; add garlic, celery, garam masala and curry. Cook a couple of minutes.
Add tomatoes, lentils and broth. Simmer 15-20 minutes.
Add sweet potato and kale. Simmer until lentils are cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
When nearly done, stir in creamed coconut.
