curry base sauce

Ingredients

100 g red lentils

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped

3 medium carrots, roughly chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

light olive oil or vegetable oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

70 g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

6 stalks coriander, chopped

1 whole red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 x 400 g tinned plum tomatoes

300 ml water

200 ml tinned coconut milk

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Wash the lentils, then place them in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Meanwhile, blitz all the vegetables, garlic and ginger in a food processor until finely chopped.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large saucepan, put it on a low heat, add the spices and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Then add the onions, carrots, pepper, garlic, ginger, coriander stalks, the chilli and all the spices and fry gently for 5-10 minutes until the onions start to soften.

Add the tomatoes, water and lentils and simmer for another 30 minutes before adding the coconut milk. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and blend until smooth using a hand blender. Season to taste. Set aside to cool then use as required.

Tip
Any surplus sauce can be frozen to use at a later date.

This recipe is from School Dinners.