Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry
This easy to make Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry is a healthy vegan recipe that makes a perfect meatless Monday dinner recipe. It takes less than an hour (mostly hands-off time) to make and is packed full of delicious Indian flavors. Make extras and you'll have a giant smile on your face at lunch the next day.
Complete the meal with some perfect basmati rice or cauliflower rice. And if you love vegetarian curry recipes, also try our coconut vegetarian korma!
It's July! It's summer! It's the season of BBQ and no cook recipes! And here I am, sharing a coconut lentil curry recipe with you. Say what!!
You guys, this is what badass curry dreams are made of. For reals. I'm talking one pot and less than an hour till you're in coconut lentil curry HEAVEN!
I don't care how hot it is outside, it's always a good time for a bowl of hot curry. I mean, it's stinkin' hot in India and peeps eat curry there all the time. They must be onto something.
When I was doing the whole right of passage, backpacking around Asia thing in my early 20s, locals would always tell me that eating hot food on a hot day would cool you down. Makes no sense to me at all, but if you put a bowl of hot curry in front of me and it's a bazillion degrees outside, I'll still eat it. I mean really, how could you not?
This coconut lentil curry recipe is ridiculously simple to make. Five bucks says you're going to look at the recipe and think, “No way THIS recipe could be one of the BEST curry recipes.” But it is. For reals.
It's so simple to make that I made you a video so you can see just how easy it will be for you to sit down in front of a big bowl of curry.
Watch the Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry Video:
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The original recipe comes from a well dog-eared cookbook of mine called, Vij's at Home. I've made some changes to the original recipe so it suits my taste:
- Coconut oil replaces the cooking oil (and I use MUCH less of it)
- Coriander seeds replace ground coriander as I love the little pop of crunch they give.
- Crushed tomatoes replace fresh tomatoes (so I can be lazy and not blend them)
- Harder to find mung beans take a hike and are replaced with brown lentils
- Cilantro gets piled on high.
- Cherry tomatoes get thrown in during the last few minutes of cooking (because heck, why not?)
Since I originally posted this recipe, I've now made it around 324,000 times. That might be a little exaggeration, but I have made it many times. My daughter is a huge fan of this lentil curry, so I usually make a double batch and then freeze some in smaller portions so I have some quick and easy food for her on hand.
Making a big batch also means that we get lunches for days after. Curry is kind of like chili, it's even better the next day. Honestly, every time I make this I get a text from my handsome man the next day telling me how good his lunch is. Win!
Also, after getting several requests, I've now created a Crockpot Coconut Lentil Curry recipe for you! While the original version still wins (in my books) the crockpot version is delicious and so great to come home to after a long day at work. 🙂
Healthy Vegan Curry Recipes
- Black Chana Masala
- Crock Pot Coconut Lentil Curry
- Coconut Black Lentil Curry
- Chickpea Tofu and Eggplant Curry
- Coconut Acorn Squash Curry
- Creamy Coconut Vegetarian Korma
- Loaded Vegan Butter ‘Chicken'
Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon each: cumin seeds and coriander seeds
- 1 head garlic, chopped (10-12 cloves)
- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup dried brown lentils
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder, optional
- 3 cups water
- 15 ounce can coconut milk
- A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast until they start to brown, about 45 seconds. Add the garlic to the pot and let it brown, about 2 minutes.1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 tablespoon each: cumin seeds and coriander seeds, 1 head garlic
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, and sea salt to the pot and cook, stirring the pot a few times, for 5 minutes. Add the lentils and, if using, the cayenne powder, and the water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Stir the pot a few times to prevent the lentils from sticking to the bottom. If the curry starts to look dry, add an extra ½ – 1 cup of water.28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons ginger, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 cup dried brown lentils, 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder, 3 cups water
- Once the lentils are soft and the curry is thick, add the coconut milk and cherry tomatoes and bring the pot back to a simmer. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cilantro.15 ounce can coconut milk, A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, 1 cup chopped cilantro
I love this recipe, and the fact that it is so versatile. Tonight, for example, I added paneer (not vegan but so yummy) and roasted yams.
Thanks!
Kris
It works in the instapot!
I just made this with the addition of 1 TBS curry powder and 1 peeled and diced eggplant.
I sautéed the coriander seed and ground cumin with garlic in the instapot on sauté for 1 minute. Then I added all the other ingredients except cilantro and cherry tomatoes and cooked on high pressure cook for 14 minutes, followed by 15 natural release. Eggplant cooked down so that it isn’t noticeable ( I like it better this way!) and the lentils still have just a touch of chew to them. Added chopped cilantro when I served it.
So delicious!
I keep messing up this recipe for some reason, my mom will never let me use a 28oz can of tomatoes, she says it’s too much. Anyway the few times I managed to make it right it was really good! I’m going to keep on trying and making adjustments till I ace it. It’s worth it!
I made this curry for my partner (and I) as meal prep for a few days and he loved it. I used green lentils because I couldn’t find the brown anywhere so I’m curious to see what it’ll taste like next time with the brown 🙂 this was such a quick and straightforward recipe – thanks!
Absolutely loved this recipe served it with brown rice and made enough to enjoy for the rest of week. Will mark it as my favourite to enjoy always.
This is my absolutely favorite lentil soup recipe! I sent it to a friend and she is obsessed! Sooo good!
This was the first and best lentil curry I’ve made. I’ve tried others and they just don’t live up to that big hit of turmeric and other spices that I love about this one. Whenever I make this, I sub in 1 tsp each of ground coriander and ground cumin instead of the 1 tbsp of the seeds. I also alternate between diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes depending on what I’ve got on hand (if you use diced, I’d recommend reducing the water to 2 cups). So easy to make, so delicious, and so full of fibre and other good stuff. Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe a dozen times at home in California, shared with friends, and keep coming back for more!
Now I will be making it today on our sailboat in the South Pacific. “Kana Totoka”! ( Awesome food )
I love it so much that you are making this recipe on a sailboat on the south pacific. I bet it will taste even better there!
Absolutely delicious
This was easy to make and extremely tasty – also really like the way that the recipe is written with the quantities of the ingredients underneath each addition. A non fussy but tasty meal – oh apart from peeling all of the garlic!
I’m adding this recipe to my grocery list this week and I have a few questions. Should I really use a whole head of garlic? =o I’ve never used that much garlic in a dish? And how should I adjust if I am using ground cumin and corainder?
Yep, a whole head. It sounds like a lot but the curry isn’t overly garlicky. And you can use the same amount of ground spice as the recipe calls for.
We tried this recipe for the first time today, and we absolutely loved it. We made tiny adjustments to include ingredients already in our kitchen, like pink lentils, cayenne pepper, and ground ginger. I don’t like too much heat, especially on warm days – but this was just perfect, even with the cayenne. Five stars, and we will absolutely be making this curry again.