It was quite the comedy of errors, making this yesterday. First I realized I had no yogurt for the Naan. That was okay, I had buttermilk. A little adjustment to the liquid, & I was good to go. But then I overcooked the naan. It actually tasted fine, it just wasn’t a very pretty color. Then, bringing the bag of mung beans to the kitchen (the pantry is in the next room over), I heard a series of little ticks. Turns out there was a hole in the bag, chewed by one of our little rodent friends; I was leaving a trail of mung. (I live in the country, every winter a few mice make it past our defenses. Don’t judge me!) I had an undamaged bag of yellow split peas, so I figured I’d try that instead. 

Then 2 hours before dinner, the power goes out. Dh got the generator up & running, so the slow cooker was only off for about a half hour, & I thought we’d be okay. Dinnertime came & went, though, & the darn yellow peas were still hard. I wonder how long they’d been in the pantry? I guess even the mice didn’t want all of them. So I cooked the dal for another few hours, then threw it in the fridge for another day. Good thing there were leftovers from the Lemony Basil Chicken. Yeesh.

So, on a good day, when all goes according to plan, here’s how to make Dal in the slow cooker. Yours will look a little different than my picture because you’ll be using the right ingredients! You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils

1 cup peeled mung beans (220 grams)

2 (14-oz) cans no salt added diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp minced garlic (perfect job for the  Cuisinart Mini-Mate)

2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

2 minced jalapeños

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp turmeric

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp ground cardamom

¾ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

2 cups Homemade Vegetable Broth

4 cups water

2 tsp Methi (fenugreek)

2 tsp whole cumin seeds

2 tsp whole brown mustard seeds

1 tsp whole fennel seeds

½ tsp cardamom seeds (not pods, those are different)

⅛ tsp ground cloves

Directions:

1.) Rinse the lentils & beans, drain, & dump in slow cooker pot. Add in the canned tomatoes, with their liquid. Next, mince and add the garlic, ginger, & peppers, and add those.

Ginger slices

minced!

2.) Now add the next 7 ingredients (bay leaf through salt.)

3.) Add the vegetable broth and water.

4.) Heat a frying pan to medium-high. Add the remaining ingredients (all the whole seeds plus the ground cloves). Cook for about 30 seconds, stirring frequently, until fragrant. Keep a close eye on them, as they will heat quickly. If the mustard seeds get too hot, they will begin popping and flying all over your stove. Crush the seeds with a meat mallet, can, or smaller pan. Don’t pound, or the seeds will go flying. Just a firm, steady pressure, so they will crack & release their yumminess. Pour into slow cooker pot; stir to combine.

3.) Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Check 30-60 minutes before serving, to adjust water & seasonings as needed. Sometimes I’ll add a bit of powdered ginger here to brighten things up. That’s it! Enjoy!