Curried red lentils with coconut milk from Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home-Cooking Triumphs (page 136) by Julia Turshen

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • cookinglikeimeanit on April 07, 2026

    Love this recipe and have made it a number of times. My only note is that I use 1 teaspoon of salt instead of the 2 teaspoons called for.

  • ellwell on November 18, 2022

    Very good. I made these for a quick dinner for myself. By the time most of the liquid was absorbed, they weren’t quite done. Next time I would add a little more liquid and cook a few minutes longer. While I was at the middle-eastern market today, I saw the most wonderful Turkish pide, so I bought the huge thing even though hubby was out of town. I served the lentils over basmati rice, added plain yogurt, and used the bread to sop up the wonderful juice. Then I made myself take the rest of the loaf, along with the cake over to the neighbor’s house so I would not eat it up!

  • westminstr on June 19, 2022

    I didn’t have ginger or regular garlic, used a large shallot & the stalk and greens from a head of green garlic. All red lentils, coconut oil instead of olive oil, & finished with juice of half a lime. It turned out really nice, the consistency was perfect & I liked the coconut flavor. Served w rice, cilantro & chiles. I didn’t think it needed yogurt on top of the coconut milk.

  • snoozermoose on January 07, 2022

    Outstanding! My husband and I both made mmm noises as we ate. I disagree with others that this is too salty. If you serve it over plain unsalted rice (as rice should be), the seasoning is just right. It's my biggest pet peeve when a dish meant to go over rice tastes perfectly seasoned on its own but bland over rice.

  • lou_weez on March 19, 2021

    This was lovely, easy dinner served over rice. I cut the salt back to 1.5 tsp but it was still too salty. Will cut back to 1tsp next time.

  • hirsheys on October 06, 2018

    Like others, I used a mix of french and red lentils (I went half and half) and cooked a bit longer... This is really quite lovely and deliciously fragrant (maybe from the turmeric + coconut?) It tends a bit salty, but wouldn't be with the dollop of yogurt and cilantro to serve that she suggests (I didn't have them...) The best part is that this is easy to make with pantry ingredients and cooked up for a super easy, healthy lunch.

  • clcorbi on April 26, 2018

    Made this with French lentils instead of red ones, and we really loved the change of texture from our standard dals. I agree that this dish is too salty on its own, but served over rice it's just right. This curry has a delicious flavor which makes me think the chicken or veggie variations would be awesome as well.

  • Frogcake on March 04, 2018

    Really delicious! And so simple to make. I think you could eat this as a soup -why not? I served this as a light side with bbq’d salmon and fresh naan.

  • Lepa on December 09, 2017

    Wow, this such a simple and delicious dal. Like @macfadden, I used a combination of red and French lentils (1/2 and 1/2 in my case) and increased the cooking time to forty minutes. The result was creamy and delicious. We ate it with lots of naan and some okra & potatoes and it was so, so good. This is an especially good recipe for kids but the adults loved it, too.

  • Starrysky on August 15, 2017

    The combination of Cocnut and lentils is always a winner. Hard to screw up this recipe :) but go for less salt in this particular recipe

  • gamulholland on June 17, 2017

    Flavorful but too salty-- next time I will cut the salt in half. Otherwise delicious.

  • macfadden on May 19, 2017

    A version of this recipe was posted on Food52 suggesting using 2/3 c. French lentils and 1/3 cup red lentils. I found this change made the dish much more interesting and gave it better texture. In any case, the aromatics and spices are just right.

  • mfranklin125 on February 14, 2017

    This is yummy and simple. Can do without rice but kids love with. Goes great with salmon and veggies

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