protein packed spinach curry

ingredients

1/2 large cooking onion

4 cloves garlic

1 inch of fresh ginger

1 can diced tomato

1 small jalapeno (or to taste)

2 tomatoes

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp graham masala

1 tsp coriander

1 1/2 tsp fenugreek

1/4 tsp mustard seed

2 tbsp curry leaf (approximately)

400g of spinach

1/2 cup fresh coriander (optional)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 cup red split lentils (sub for silken tofu)

1 block extra firm tofu

1 can butter beans (sub for white kidney beans)

step by step

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F (205C) ( I like to use convection as it browns really easily without flipping )

2. Finely dice onion, mince garlic ginger and chilli and dice tomato into small chunks. Gather spices in a small bowl

3. Cube extra firm tofu and place on a lined baking dish, cover with 1 tbsp oil and a good pinch of salt then bake for about 25 min or until golden brown. If you are only using the bottom element in your oven you will need to flip them midway

4. Heat a large pot on low-medium heat and add oil along with onion. Cook for 1-2 min then add spices with a good pinch of salt and cook for 3 more minutes. If it’s dry add either a splash of water, more oil or a chunk of butter (vegan or not)

5. After a few minutes add the tomatoes a pinch of salt and increase the heat slightly and cover with a lid and cook for 5-6 minutes or until tomatoes have softened. Add the chilli and cook for 2-3 more minutes

6. Add the entire bag of spinach if you can, if not then add it in increments until its all wilted. Follow that with some roughly chopped cilantro and another pinch of salt, sugar and cover with a lid. Cook for 5-7 minutes to infuse the flavour lowering the heat slightly

7. Boil 1 cup of red split lentils until completely soft, mushy and falling apart. strain and set aside. If you want to use silken tofu skip this step and blend the tofu with the curry as instructed in the next step

8. Add the spinach mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until you have a desirable texture (I prefer to only add the spinach as I like the small chunks of tomato and onion in my curry). Then add that back to the pot along with the red split lentils, can of rinsed beans, crispy tofu, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3-4 more minutes

9. Serve with rice!

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