Baked beef and yellow lentil curry

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Place beef in a bowl and toss to coat in oil.
2. Heat a large casserole or deep frying pan over high heat and brown beef in two batches.
3. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ginger and curry powder and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, lentils and 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and bake for 1 hour.
4. Sprinkle diced eggplant lightly with salt and set over a colander to drain. Add drained eggplant and cauliflower to curry, stir in to sauce, cover and cook for another 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
5. Serve curry with rice, green beans and yoghurt.

1. When cooking with legumes or pulses such as lentils and chickpeas, add salt at the end of cooking so they don't toughen up.
2. Cook on the stovetop over low heat for similar results. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan.
3. Use green, brown or red lentils instead, just rinse before adding to the curry.
4. Add yoghurt or coconut milk at the end of cooking for a creamy finish.
5. Make your own curry powder blend. Start with the basics, 2 tablespoons ground coriander and 1 tablespoon ground cumin, and add to your taste, a little turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, mustard seeds, fennel or fenugreek, chilli powder etc.

Switch to make:
Beef mulligatawny soup

Add an extra cup of water to the curry. Chop the green beans into bite sized pieces and add for the final 10 minutes.

Leftovers:This is also a great way to use up any leftover curry. Add any vegetables you have in the fridge, such as zucchini or red capsicum and reheat with a little water or stock. You can even add a little cooked rice to the soup to thicken it further.