Crock Pot Dal

Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 cup masoor dal
• 3 cups water
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon hing
• 12 curry leaves
• 1 -2 roughly chopped tomato
• 2 minced serrano chilies
• 5 -6 ounces chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• salt, as needed
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• chopped cilantro, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 rinse 1 cup masoor dal (the orange lentils), or split yellow moong dal or toor dal and place ithe lentils in a crockpot whose insides you have lightly oiled.
• 2 add 3 cups water, put the crockpot on high and cook for two hours.
• 3 stir, and check to see if more water is needed. keep checking for water and stirring every 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked smooth.
• 4 when it is almost time to eat, in a large nonstick frying pan put the oil and mustard seeds. heat over high heat until the mustard seeds have popped for about 10 seconds.
• 5 quickly stir in the hing and curry leaves.
• 6 add the tomatoes (optional) and serrano chilies. stir-fry for about 4 minutes.
• 7 add the spinach (this is optional). stir-fry until the spinach is very tender, adding a little water if needed.
• 8 stir in the turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander.
• 9 combine the spices and lentils either in the frying pan or the crockpot and mix until well blended. check for water.
• 10 add salt to taste and stir in the lemon juice. if desired, garnish with a little cilantro.
• 11 variation: instead of the spinach you can add 1 minced carrot that you have cooked in a bowl of water in the microwave for about 10 minutes, along with 1 large diced potato. when adding the cooked carrot and potato pieces to the fryiing pan, add 1/2 cup frozen green beans and 1/4 cup frozen peas. if you want to use fresh green beans, cook them in the microwave like you did the carrots and potato.