Brown lentil, spinach and coconut hotpot

‘Hippy comfort food’ is how my sleep-when-you-die friend described this dish when he came round for dinner – but after sampling it, he wanted the recipe! I’d whipped this up for him when he said ‘I didn’t grow up cooking and so I’ve never bothered.’ To show him how easy it is to make something from the pantry, I’d soaked a cup of brown lentils in the morning, then, that evening, added it with the other ingredients to the pot and simmered for 20 minutes. With fresh greens thrown in and cooked until tender, this is comfort cooking at its easiest. ‘So where do I get the greens from then?’ he asked. Your freezer, of course!

Serves 2–3

200g (1 cup) brown lentils, soaked for 8 hours or overnight, rinsed and drained

1 x 400ml tin of full-fat coconut milk

1 small onion, sliced

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

250ml (1 cup) water

⅓ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

4cm (½ in) piece of fresh ginger, sliced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 nuggets of frozen spinach or 200g (4 cups) fresh spinach or other leafy greens

dash of tamarind paste (see here), or lime or lemon juice

1 Throw the lentils, coconut milk, onion, garlic, water cumin, coriander and ginger into a medium saucepan and allow to simmer, lid on, for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2 Add the spinach, bring to a simmer and cook for another 5–10 minutes, until tender. Add the tamarind paste and serve.

TIP

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To turn this into an intense-flavoured curry to serve alongside rice, quinoa or bread, double all of the ingredients apart from the lentils and leave out the water.