Black Lentils

This is an Indian dish that tastes a lot like Chili. It is one of our favorites and makes a lot! Great for a cold rainy day as it warms you up! This can be served with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and a salad if you want to make it more like a chili. If serving it Indian I would recommend eating with naan as this dish begs to be dipped into.  

3 C whole black lentils with skin (I can only ever find green lentils at the store which require less cooking time), cleaned and washed thoroughly – important! Don’t want to eat rocks!

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered (don’t worry about texture, it will be pureed later)
1 2inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 serrano chile (don’t worry! It won’t make it too spicy. If you are nervous add half of one)
2 bunches fresh cilantro, washed and chopped (about 2 cups)
1 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
1 T garam masala
1 heaping T salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chile powder
12 cups water
½ c heavy whipping cream or plain yogurt (I use the yogurt and get the thick Greek style)

Put the lentils in the slow cooker.

In a food processor, grind the onion, ginger, garlic, green chile, and 1 cup of the cilantro. Add this mixture to the lentils along with the cumin, coriander, garam masala, salt, turmeric, red chile powder, and water.

Cook on high for 6 hours (or when lentils are nice and creamy looking). Mix in the remaining cilantro and add the cream or yogurt, if you wish.

Note: you CANNOT leave out any of the spices. It will ruin the dish! Indian cooking is dependent on good quality spices. I can actually get most of my spices from the commissary nowadays but if you have trouble at your local supermarket try Whole Foods or venture out to your local tiny ethnic supermarket, you’ll be so inspired by what you find you will want to return again and again!

This recipe is from the following book, highly recommended!:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Indian-Slow-Cooker-Authentic/dp/1572841117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342284436&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+slow+cooker