Healthy Mince & Lentil Ragu - African Style

I’d no idea what to actually call this dish, I just wanted to make something completely different with low fat mince. So I added flavours as I went and this is what I came up with. My favorite type of cooking is making things up as you go along, its so organic, esp for someone who has a hard time following recipes (me). Granted, it sometimes leads to embarrassing disasters that I'd rather forget, but a lot of the time, it leads to discovering new ways with old ingredients. It makes cooking interesting, making life in the kitchen interesting.

This is Swahili style ragu, using garam masala, low fat turkey mince and lentils, making it a real one pot wonder. This is a wonderful dish for a midweek supper for anyone who is trying to follow a low carb high protein diet.

 The fragrance of the garam masala and the colour of the turmeric help make this quick and simple dish seem really exotic, helping to brighten up mid week suppers

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 450g turkey mince
• 4 chopped tomatoes
• 6 sliced mushrooms
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 grated ginger piece
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 red chili, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp of garam masala
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• 200 ml boiling water
• 1 can of green lentils, rinsed
• 2 tbsp of chopped coriander

Method

1.  Get a wok/wide pan on the hob, add the oil and the mince.
2. Fry until the mince is fully coloured, and add the spices, garlic and ginger.
3. Fry off the spices and add the chili.
4. Add the mushroom, tomatoes and yellow pepper and fry off.
5. Pour the hot water over the mixture, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
6. Add the lentils and allow them to warm through and scatter over the coriander.