I attempted to make this a few days ago as I thought it would be a good addition for the wintery weather outside, but I burnt it really horribly and it tasted (and looked) completely atrocious, so I thought I’d try again tonight, and thank God, it worked! I have to really stress the importance of using a non-stick saucepan for this recipe, you have to leave it for 20 minutes to bubble away and you really risk sticking the lentils to the bottom of the pan and them getting all burnt like I did otherwise.

Catastrophe aside, this tasted really lovely, and lentils are so filling, which makes them ideal winter comfort food. Another bonus is that you can pretty much stick everything in a pan and leave it, so it’s brilliant for days (like today for me) when you’re so rushed off your feet you can’t manage making anything like a stir-fry that requires constant attention – I have a reading list longer than my arm at the moment, and I’ve been manically running around trying to sort things out today, in fact, I’m going onto campus in a few minutes to sign up for the baking society, which I’m really excited about :)

Anyway, onto the recipe, which is a yummy, warming sweet potato and lentil curry. It’s a bit ugly, but all brilliant comforting curries are – it can be as spicy as you want it by the way, that’s what I added the yoghurt for, as a sort of ‘fire extinguisher’!

Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry

Ingredients

100g of peeled sweet potato in bite-sized chunks

75g of peeled normal potato in bite-sized chunks

Half an onion, chopped

One clove of garlic, chopped

One green chilli, finely chopped

Half a teaspoon each of ginger and cayenne pepper

50g of red lentils

100ml of vegetable stock

A little oil or oil spray

A big dollop of natural soy yoghurt

Method

1. Cook the potato in boiling water for around 6 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the onions until golden, then add the chilli, garlic and spices until they’re all golden and sizzling nicely.
2. Add the cooked potato, sweet potato, lentils and stock and simmer, covered for 20 minutes, until nice and soft.
3. Splodge some yoghurt on the top and sprinkle over some more cayenne pepper.

Serves one