Slow Cooker Dal

A warm and spicy dal may be one of the most comforting dishes. It’s also extremely versatile! You can dip naan, roti, paratha, etc. in it, you can eat it on a bed of rice, or it can be eaten on its own in a bowl with a spoon. The main problem with this delicious lentil dish is it can be tough to make without a pressure cooker. Luckily, I experimented with a crockpot for you and can tell you some important tips and tricks for making perfectly cooked dal in a slow cooker.

There are two important pieces of information going into this recipe:

1. This recipe takes a LONG time in the slow cooker. I cooked this dal for 24 hours to get soft lentils. The minimum cook time will vary depending on your specific lentils, but the longer you cook your dal the more flavorful your end result will be. Luckily, this is a set-it-and-forget-it dish and a long time in the slow cooker means you get an amazing development of flavors. Completely worth it in my opinion.
2. Although the majority of cooking occurs in the slow cooker, I highly recommend starting with a pan on the stove to cook your whole spices, onions, garlic, and ginger. It’s also fine if you’d rather throw everything in the crockpot at once, but the flavors will be richer if you start with the pan.

Ingredients

• Dried, split lentils (I recommend using a combination of mung, chickpea, red, yellow, etc. for varied size and texture)
• Ghee or butter
• Onion, diced
• Garlic, minced
• Ginger, minced
• Green chili/jalapeno, diced
• Dried red chili
• Cinnamon stick
• Cumin seeds, whole
• Coriander, powder
• Cloves, whole
• Garam masala powder
• Turmeric powder
• Tomato paste
• Mango pickle (optional)
• Chopped cilantro for garnish

Lentil Prep

Start by rinsing and then soaking your lentils in water for at least 6 hours (ideally overnight if you can).

Fry Your Spices

A crucial part of Indian cooking is phoron (Bengali) or tarka (Hindi), a.k.a. tempering your whole spices in oil. This allows your spices to impart amazing flavor to the cooking oil or ghee and serves as a flavorful base for the dish. It’s important to note that you want to cook your spices until the oil becomes fragrant but without burning any of your spices. Adding onions, garlic, chilies, and ginger to this base will continue to develop all our flavors.

Although this step is technically optional, it is highly recommended. It’s helpful to do this step in a pan on the stove before moving everything to the crockpot so that you get a well-developed and flavorful dal.

Start with a neutral oil or ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add the whole dried chili, cumin seeds, clove, and cinnamon stick (I like to break my cinnamon stick in half to get as much flavor as possible out of it). Let the spices cook in the oil for a few minutes, stirring to prevent any burning. Once the oil is fragrant but before any of your spices have turned brown, add diced onion and cook until translucent and slightly browned. Then add diced green chili, minced garlic and ginger and continue stirring for another minute or two.

Ready for the Slow Cooker

Drain your lentils and add them to your slow cooker along with your cooked spices, onion, garlic, ginger, and chili mixture from the pan. Add twice as much water as the amount of lentils you added (2:1 volume ratio). To the crockpot, add all your powdered spices, ~ 1 tablespoon or a good squirt of tomato paste, a heaping spoon of ghee (or butter), a good sprinkle of salt, and two spoonfuls of mango pickle (optional). Give all the ingredients a good stir and cook on high for at least 12 hours or until the lentils are soft. As I mentioned above, I ended up cooking mine for closer to 24 hours, stirring intermittently (I switched to low about halfway through to avoid any burning on the bottom).

Worth the Wait

Once your lentils have softened and absorbed all your cooking liquid, you’ll be left with a smooth and rich dal. You now have a tasty and flavorful (and vegetarian!) dal. If the dal is a bit spicy for you, serve with raita or yogurt, or stir in some heavy cream. Top with fresh cilantro as desired.