A Quick Curry

A warm spicy curry is a great option for an outdoor snack and proves that Trangia food doesn’t have to be dull reheated tins of mush. This is my dhansak inspired recipe creates a rich hot and sour gravy packed with lentils goodness. You can easily tweak the flavour profile to your tastes. I’ve suggested a single red chilli, but you can add more or leave it out entirely and it’s still delicious. I’ve used variations of the recipes in the Trangia, but it also works really well in a cast iron dutch oven over a roaring open fire. If you’re camping it’s also a great boost of flavour.

In the recipe below, I’ve suggested using chopped onions. Now, I am lazy, we should clarify this early on in this first recipe. You can buy frozen chopped onions and save yourself the hassle of chopping them yourself. The other advantage that packing a few frozen ingredients has is that it helps keep all the other ingredients cool and fresh, particularly useful if you’re out for a day’s hiking.

Ingredients

  • Frozen chopped onion (4 tbl spn)
  • Cooking oil (2 tbl 2pn)
  • Garlic purée (2 tbl spn)
  • Tomato puree (4 tbl spn)
  • Water (50 ml)
  • Spices
    • Garam masala (2 tbl spn)
    • Turmeric (1 tbl spn)
    • Ginger powder (1 tbl spn)
    • Mustard seeds (1 tbl spn)
    • Curry leaves (1 tbl spn)
    • 1 whole dried red chilli
  • 1 tin green lentils
  • Lemon juice (30 ml, either fresh or bottled)

Method

  • Fry off the chopped onions until almost golden brown - make sure to keep them moving in the pan
  • Add in the spices and garlic puree and let them warm through for 1 - 2 mins (again, careful not to let them burn)
  • Add a dash of water and tomato purée and mix into a nice gravy
  • Drain the lentils and add them in
  • Cook for. 5 - 10 mins, keep stirring
  • Add the lemon juice towards the end to keep it tasting sharp and zingy
  • After another 2 mins it’s ready to enjoy!

Suggested variations

  • This curry works great as a base into which you could add other fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, carrot or spinach
  • If your cooking for a group, some plain basmati rice makes a great accompaniment to helps make the curry go further
  • Try different varieties of lentil, or swap them out for chickpeas for a different texture and flavour