In January’s newsletter, I made lentil stew with green lentils and vegetables. All the vegetables went into the stew before I dried it. For this month's newsletter, I cooked and dried red lentils with curry seasoning.

Red lentils turn mushy when you cook them. Green lentils stay firm. To turn the red lentil mush into a flavorful sauce, I ran the cooked red lentil curry through a blender and dried it into bark. Then I combined the bark with dried brown basmati rice and colorful vegetables.

Red Lentil Curry Recipe

• 2 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion, diced
• 1 Clove Garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp Ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 3 Tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 cups Red Lentils
• 6 cups Water
• 1 tsp Salt

Note on curry powder: I used mild but you can go with a hotter blend if desired. The curry powder I used was a blend of coriander, turmeric, yellow mustard, fenugreek, cumin, ginger, pepper, onion, garlic, bay leaves, paprika, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.

I added cumin seeds and fresh ginger to give the curry a little extra zing.

How to make Red Lentil Curry

Add the curry powder and cumin seeds. Stir to toast the spices a little.

Add a few ounces of water at a time, cooking down the mixture to a paste-like consistency before adding a little more water. After fifteen minutes or so, the flavor of the spices will have blossomed.

Add the lentils and rest of the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for fifteen minutes. Stir in one teaspoon of salt at the end. Remove pot from heat and let cool.

Cooking and Dehydrating Brown Basmati Rice

Combine two cups of brown basmati rice with two cups water and one teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for forty-five minutes. Keep lid on pot while the rice is simmering, no stirring. Remove from heat and let sit until cool. Note: If you use white rice instead of brown rice, you will use more water and the cooking time will be shorter.

Dehydrating Rice: Two cups of brown basmati rice will yield five cups of cooked rice. Spread the cooked rice on dehydrator trays covered with non-stick sheets and dehydrate at 135° F for six to eight hours or until dry and hard. One Excalibur Dehydrator tray will hold two-and-a-half to three cups of cooked rice. After you dry the brown basmati rice, you will again end up with approximately two cups. The advantage of precooking and drying it is that it will rehydrate and cook quickly in trail meals.

Dehydrate Red Lentil Curry into Bark

Spread blended mixture evenly on dehydrator trays covered with non-stick sheets or use the fruit leather inserts if drying in a round dehydrator. I spread two cups of mixture on one Excalibur Dehydrator tray.

Dehydrate at 135° F for eight to ten hours until dry and crumbly. The dried yield of two cups blended mixture was 1½ cups crumbled bark.

Red Lentil Curry with Brown Basmati Rice & Vegetables

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup Red Lentil Curry Bark
• ½ cup Dried Brown Basmati Rice
• ½ cup Dried Vegetables
• 1¼ cups Water to rehydrate

To make a large serving: ⅓ cup bark, ¾ cup dried rice, ¾ cup dried vegetables, 1¾ cups water.

Vegetables: I used a colorful medley of dried carrots, red bell peppers, red pepperoni, and baked sweet potato. As you can see in the photo, I cut the carrots and peppers julienne-style before drying to give a nice texture to the meal. Use any vegetables you like.

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in pot with water. Soak five minutes and then light stove. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling for one minute and then turn off stove. Let sit for ten minutes with lid on pot. Insulate with a pot cozy if you have one. If cooking in a thermos food jar, add an extra quarter-cup of boiled water.

That’s it for this month. I’m heading back to Georgia for a spring visit in a little over a week. Before I go, I will cook and dehydrate several thermos meals so Dominique and Cédric will have hot lunches for work. They will join me in Georgia two weeks after I get there. I hope you enjoy the red lentil curry recipe. As always, we wish you all the best and good eating on your adventures.

Freundliche Grüsse,

• Recipes for Adventure II: The Best of Trail Bytes
• Recipes for Adventure
• Menu Planning & Food Drying Workbook
• Action Guide: Dehydrating 31 Meals
• 1001 Miles on the Appalachian Trail

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