IN THE POT | SPICED LENTILS
Continuing on from earlier in the week it’s time to share some more Australia Day Feast recipes. One of my facourite dishes from the day was the Spicey Lentils.
I was so worried that they wouldn’t turn out, especially when I’d made a timing issue and hadn’t realised I had to soak the green lentils over night. However some quick thinking and resourceful shopping I managed to pull one out of the hat.
Image source: Misha_Oz
Spiced Lentils
1 cup green lentils
3 cups water
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
½ teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoon salt
1 cup crushed fresh, canned or bottled tomatoes
1 large tablespoon tomato paste
1 onion
1 carrot
4 cloves garlic
1. Combine the lentils and water in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.
2. The next day, pour the lentils and water mixture into the slow cooker.
3. In a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind to a powder the coriander and cumin seeds and cloves. Add to the cooker with the turmeric, cayenne pepper, sugar, salt, tomato and tomato paste.
4. Peel the onion and the carrot and dice finely. Peel and crush the garlic. Add to the cooker and stir to combine.
5. Place lid on cooker and cook for 8-9 hours on Low. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves: 4-6
Source: Sally Wise, Slow Cooker
Tip: When I made this I used 2 (440g) tins of canned lentils (including the fluid in the can) instead of the overnight soak of lentils. I also added a tin of kidney beans (400g), used an entire tub (125g) of tomato paste. Put in 3 carrots and stuck with the one onion. I also used a 440g can of tinned tomatoes instead of the 1 cup. In addition I added about 2 cups of water to the mixture.
I put it in the slow cooker for 8 hours and then turned the slow cooker to “keep warm” and left it overnight. When I went to bed the mixture looked more like soup than a curry. When I woke up and looked at it it was the consistency of a curry. (And smelt awesome!)
I then peeled and diced 1kg of potatoes and added them to the mix. I left the slow cooked on keep warm and kept stirring the mixture every 15 – 30 minutes. I ended up serving the dish about 5 hours after adding the potatoes.
The dish was seriously awesome. I served it with rice. I really think the amount of time that this dish spent in the slow cooker is the reason it turned out so well.
I was a little concerned about the heat of the dish so I also served a Cool Cucumber Salsa.
Image source: Misha_Oz
2 medium cucumbers – peeled, seeded and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 green capsicum, chopped
1 green chilli, seeded and minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
pinch minced fresh parsley
small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Serves: 12