Don't be scared off by the long cook time -- for the most part, once you've taken care of the chopping, all you'll need to do is check on this dish occasionally as it simmers. To cut down on cook time, you can also use store-bought vegetable stock rather than making your own (you will need 2-3 cups). A note on tomato passata: although it isn't incredibly common in the U.S., I've found it at Whole Foods and another grocery store in the area. It's a tomato purée similar to tomato paste and tomato sauce -- the main differences are that the tomatoes in the purée are uncooked, with no additional ingredients added, and it's not cooked down like tomato paste. If you can't find it, you can certainly substitute tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes for a slightly different flavor.
Ingredients
FOR THE STOCK:
2 heads fennel
2 heads kale
1 yellow onion, cut into large pieces
2 large carrots, cut into large pieces
1 stalk celery, cut into large pieces
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
FOR THE TOMATO CURRY SAUCE:
24 oz can tomato passata
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp paprika
2 cups dry red lentils
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
salt to taste
Instructions
In a large heavy pot, combine the first 6 ingredients and enough water to cover the vegetables by about a half inch. Allow stock to simmer for 4 hours.
After the stock has been simmering for about an hour, you'll want to start making the tomato curry sauce. Combine the tomato passata, 2 chopped carrots, 3 cloves chopped garlic, and the spices in another large heavy pot and allow to simmer 3 hours.
Add lentils to tomato curry sauce and let simmer 20-30 minutes more, adding stock as needed to thin it out (about 2-3 cups). The mixture should be thick and creamy, not soupy or dry.
Stir in fresh cilantro and remove from heat. Season with salt to taste. Serve lentils alongside basmati rice.
Recipe by dramatic pancake at https://www.dramaticpancake.com/ficre-spicy-red-lentil-tomato-curry/