Slow Cooker Red Lentil Dahl

The leaves are changing from green to gold, red and brown and the nights have started drawing in. This means one thing, comforting slow cooker recipes are officially back on the agenda.This week I've taken mother nature's cues and run with them, starting with this delicious, affordable and simple red lentil dahl recipe. 

This is another recipe that has evolved over time, and it now has a permanent place within my husband's top five dishes (four of which are usually ever changing). 

My slow cooker is one of those combination numbers which can also operate as a saute pot, an air fryer and a pressure cooker. (Handy for limited counter space!) This also means you can fry off the onions and spices first before adding the liquid and swopping to the slow cooker setting. If you don't have one of these, or even a slow cooker, you can still make this in a large saucepan, but you'll need to stir it a lot more often to stop it sticking to the bottom. It'll also only take about forty five minutes to an hour, so a good option if you have a tight dinner deadline. 

You can play around with the spice level in this recipe, depending on your preference. I used one small red chilli but this can either be omitted or added to, depending on how hot you like your curries. I've also included quite a long list of whole and ground spices, however you could make the dahl with just the curry powder, garlic, ground cumin and coriander if you don't have such a large array. 

Feel free to add different vegetables; peppers, mushrooms, spinach and cauliflower all work well. 

I usually serve the dahl with some kind of flatbread or naan. I would definitely recommend Smitten Kitchens layered yoghurt flatbread recipe, this is the flakiest, and most delicious flatbread I have ever encountered, so definitely head over to their web page for that recipe. 

My attempt of aforementioned layered flatbread....

Red lentil dahl

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 small red chilli

1/2 sweet potato, cubed

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garlic granules

3 tsp curry powder

1 chicken stock cube, dissolved in 500ml boiling water

700ml cold water

500g red lentils

200ml coconut milk

100ml tomato passata

2 tbsp mango chutney

Juice 1/2 lemon

25g fresh coriander, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste. 

1. Finely chop the onion, garlic cloves and chilli (or pop them in a food processor and blitz them to a paste.) 

Peel and chop the sweet potato into cubes.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a low heat and add the onion, garlic and chilli and sweet potato. Fry for a few minutes until softened. 

3. Add the whole spices and fry for 2 or 3 minutes then add the ground spices and cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat. 

4. Transfer to your slow cooker and add the red lentils. 

5. Dissolve the stock cube in 500ml of boiling water and add to the lentils along with the passata, coconut milk and 700ml water. Stir thoroughly. 

6. Cook on high for approximately 3 hours or low for around 4 hours. 

7. Just before serving, add the lemon juice, mango chutney, chopped coriander and stir. Then season to taste. Top with a generous spoonful of greek yoghurt.