An "English" Lentil Curry

Lentil Curry with Marmite

Have you ever made a curry with marmite? I love marmite as you may know and thought I should give it a go. It turned out quite well if I may say so. I made this dal curry almost like I would a Dal Makhani - a rich North Indian lentil and bean curry - but since I'm not hot about red and black-eyed beans, I used green lentils.

Lentil and Vegetable Curry :

400g-can organic whole Green Lentils

2 Potatoes (cubed)

1 large Carrot (sliced into small chunks)

A few hard-boiled Eggs

1 Onion (chopped)

2 Tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1 Tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 Tsp Fenugreek seeds

1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds

1 Tsp ground Turmeric

2 Star anises

1 big fresh Red Chilli (sliced)

1 Chilli padi or 1 Tsp red Chilli powder

2 Tsp Garam Masala

6-8 Cherry Tomatoes (chopped)

6-8 Curry leaves

1 Tsp Marmite dissolved in 1 cup hot water

300ml full cream Milk

50ml Cream

Butter

Salt to taste

Fresh Coriander leaves

Heat up some butter in a reasonably deep non-stick frying pan and fry the onions, ginger-garlic paste and spices till fragrant. Add the chilli, curry leaves, potatoes and carrots. Mix in the lentils. I used canned organic lentils to spare myself the soaking and long cooking time. If not using potatoes and carrots, double the amount of lentils used.

Add the tomatoes and pour in the marmite broth. Mix well, cover and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the garam masala followed by the milk and peeled hard-boiled eggs. Leave to simmer for another 20 minutes.

Add salt to taste and stir in the cream. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot, warm or even cold. Goes well with Basmati rice or chapatis.