Potato, carrot and lentil madras

I recently purchased a book entitled A vegan taste of India. I am not vegan but it is nice to have such a book on the shelf. This is my first vegan and my first Indian cooking book. And this recipe is the first I tried.

I really like this Indian dish, because despite the spices, you can really taste the vegetables. When they are from the garden, you don't want to miss out the taste!

Serves 4

500g new potatoes, diced
500g carrots, sliced
100g red lentils
400g tin crushed tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 TBSP groundnut oil
1 TBSP tomato purée
2 tsp curry powder (the book specifies Madras curry powder, but I don't have any, so I used normal curry powder)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp paprika
black pepper
chopped coriander, to sprinkle

+ 1 cup basmati rice, steamed or boiled.

1. In a very large saucepan, boil together the lentils, carrots and potatoes for 5 min. Drain, keeping the cooking water.

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the onion and chilli for 3-5 minutes. Add the spices and fry for another 30 secs.

3. Add the mixture to the vegetables & lentils, then add the canned tomatoes, tomato purée, and 250ml of the cooking water. Season with pepper and stir well. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 25 min, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking. Add more cooking water if necessary.

Serve with basmati rice and sprinkle with the chopped coriander.