Rinse the rice well. Add it to your rice cooker along with the rest of the rice ingredients, and enough water to reach level 3 in the rice cooker. Cook until done. If not using a rice cooker, or using a rice cooker without level markings, cook the rice with your usual method and amount of liquid, substituting the coconut milk for 1 and 1/4 cups of the water. Most rice packages will also include instructions. Do NOT make this with only the rice and coconut milk - you need to add water.
For the lentil spinach curry:
Add the lentils to a saucepan along with enough water to cover them by several inches. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until tender and done to your liking. Drain the cooked lentils and set aside.
Meanwhile, warm the olive oil over medium heat in a deep skillet, saucepan, or dutch oven. Add the red onion and cook until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin seeds and cook for about 1 minute. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and ginger, stir, and cook for about 1 minute, or until the garlic and ginger are fragrant and slightly softened. Add the garam masala and cook for thirty seconds until fragrant.
Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon salt, lime juice, diced tomatoes, and coconut sugar, and reduce the heat a little bit. Cook for about 10 more minutes, until the tomatoes are starting to break down.
Meanwhile, add the spinach to a food processor and pulse to chop it, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the non-dairy milk and pulse to combine, until the spinach is finely chopped but not pureed.
Once the lentils and tomato mixture are both finished cooking, stir the lentils into the tomato mixture. Add the spinach mixture and stir well. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 7-10 minutes or until the spinach is softened and bright green. Add more salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Serve hot with a side of coconut rice.
Notes
NON-DAIRY MILK: If you are using canned coconut milk then you will have 1/4 cup leftover from making the rice. Dilute this with another 1/4 cup water to use in the lentil spinach curry where it calls for 1/2 cup non-dairy milk. If you do not have non-dairy milk, you can substitute 1/2 cup vegetable broth plus 2 extra teaspoons of olive oil.PREP AND CLEANUP: This recipe uses a few different dishes but it's still pretty simple and easy to make. To ensure that cleanup doesn't become a pain, start out with an empty sink, and rinse all dishes as soon as you're done with them. Then, clean a dish or two while waiting for various components of the recipe to finish. By the time dinner is served your kitchen will be almost clean. :)NUTRITION NOTE: Nutrition facts were calculated using only 1/2 of the rice recipe, since it makes extra.