I have been searching for this recipe of crock pot lentils for a long time. In the cafeteria at my summer job in college, they had this amazing lentil soup that my sister and I loved. It was so good that we would check to see if they had it even if we had packed a lunch that day. It was just so full of flavor and delicious.
I have tried countless recipes over the years trying to get anywhere near that flavor. I have tried crock pot lentils, lentil soup, Indian lentils, Morrocan lentils. I have tried red lentils and green lentils.
Nothing that I tried even came close. Until this recipe. It’s not exactly the same. It’s not a soup and it’s creamier, with the coconut milk. But this recipe for Crock Pot Lentils is seriously the best I’ve tried over the years!
There are quite a few spices in this curry that you might not have used before. I only used the ones that I was able to find easily in a well stocked grocery store.
So if you love lentils, or if you’re a fan of curry and coconut milk things in general, you should definitely give this one a try! It does make quite a bit. But, that really works for me right now because I was able to freeze half of it so that we’ll be able to enjoy a delicious meal after this baby comes.
Ingredients
- 3 cups red lentils (masoor dal)*
- 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2-4 fresh green Thai, serrano, or cayenne chile peppers stems removed and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 9 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground curry
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
- Hot cooked rice
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash and rinse lentils, then place in 5-quart slow cooker with tomatoes, onion, chile peppers, salt, cumin, coriander, and turmeric.
- Stir in the water, cover and cook on low for 5 1/2 hours.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat.
- Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Cover and cook until the mustard seeds pop.
- Add curry and chopped onion. Cook and stir until onions are translucent.
- Stir curry mixture and can of coconut milk into slow cooker with lentils and cook on low for another 30 minutes.
- Serve over hot rice.
Notes
*The last time I made this recipe, I used a combination of red, green and black lentils that was in a package at Costco. I decreased the water to 7 cups and thought it turned out great.
Leave a Reply