Lentils In a Creamy Spicy Tomato Sauce

I am a lean (kind of) mean (not on purpose of course) meal freezing machine!


Little man had a stomach bug that totally caught me off guard. All he wanted was to be held and cuddled 24-7, and while I in no way mind doing so it made me aware of the fact that we are getting low on freezer meals. Anyhoo, you may see a little less of me in the next few weeks as I build up my reserves. In the mean time, we are also still working on squirrelling away money to put into savings. And what is cheaper than lentils?? Right? Well I served this dish over rice, and you could use any type of beans you like in place of lentils.

This meal is the perfect example of why I like to have lots of spices on hand. This is really a quite ordinary dish...garlic, tomato sauce, beans, not very exciting at all. By using some spices that I always have readily available, garam masala, cumin, paprika, it turns into a scrumptious dish that the whole family enjoys.

What you need:

2 tbs butter (or olive oil)
3 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1 tsp chili powder
dash or two of cayenne
5 cloves of pressed garlic
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
1 can coconut milk
Salt to taste
2-4 cups of cooked beans (I used lentils, kidney beans might work well in this too)
If you want to go with canned beans, be sure to drain and rinse them well.I used a lot of beans, I was going for a high protein high fiber meal. Add the beans to your liking and tastes.


Melt the butter (or heat the oil) over medium heat and add the spices (garam masala, paprika, cumin, ginger, chili powder, and cayenne). Cook about a minute and a half until fragrant.

Add the garlic and cook one minute more.

Add the tomato paste and stir. Lower the heat if necessary, tomato products are quick to burn (if memory serves me this is because of their high sugar content, anyone know for sure?)

Slowly stir in the tomato sauce and the coconut milk.

Add salt to taste and heat through.

Add the beans and cook until heated through once more.

Adjust to suit tastes (more cayenne, salt etc) and serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro.

Although this lovely dish looks kind of like dog food it was quite tasty, and we all enjoyed it very much. I hope you do as well.