Prepare your vegetables. Finely chop the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the sweet potato and eggplant into small dice.
Heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat if the mixture is browning too quickly.
Add garam masala curry and stir to coat, then add the eggplant, sweet potato dice, and sauté for another minute, and then add the soaked lentils, tomato purée, vegetable broth, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Also, add coconut milk if used.
Bring the mixture to simmer, put a lid on it and then reduce heat to low or medium-low and continue gently simmering for 10-12 minutes or until lentils are tender.
Adjust. Once the lentils are tender, add hand-ripped spinach, stir, taste, and adjust flavor as needed, adding more curry powder for more intense curry flavor and salt for saltiness. Let the curry sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve as is or with basmati rice (we love white or brown basmati rice, but it's also delicious over cauliflower rice). Garnish with lemon or lime wedges and cilantro (optional).
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days or in the freezer for one month.
Video
Notes
*To shorten cooking time, you can substitute the uncooked lentils for cooked, canned lentils. Simply rinse and drain two 15-ounce (425 g /adjust if altering batch size. Don’t overcook the lentils until the lentils are warm and the flavors meld together – it should take about 10 minutes.*Nutrition information is only an estimate calculated without basmati rice.