I love dal but I don’t tend to want to start it from scratch after a long day at work. Making it in the slow cooker with the timer set gives it a real richness of flavour, and means you can be sitting at the table within seconds of getting home. Spoon a dollop of Greek yogurt on the top and scoop it up with warm pitta bread – it’s like a warm hug from the inside.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp ground turmeric
- 10 oz (300 g) split red lentils
- 1¼ pints (700 ml) vegetable stock
- 7 fl oz (200 ml) tomato passata
- Perfect Rice, to serve
How to Make It
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onions, stirring, until deep golden brown. It will take about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, pepper, ground cumin, cumin seeds, ground coriander, and turmeric, and fry over a medium heat, stirring, for 30 seconds, or until the aromas are released.
- Scrape the spiced onion mixture out of the frying pan and into the slow cooker.
- Add the lentils, stock, and passata, and a good pinch of salt. Give it a stir and cook on a high setting for 2 hours.
- Serve with Perfect Rice, or naan, and spinach.