BOMBAY SANDWICH SPREAD WITH THAT?

ALLY, a “long-time lurker” and Sean the Prawn , who lives in the prettiest spot ever and not very far from me, asked for the slow cooker In...


ALLY, a “long-time lurker” and Sean the Prawn, who lives in the prettiest spot ever and not very far from me, asked for the slow cooker Indian dahl recipe. The adult dependents call the slow cooker, or crock pot, the crock pock. Rude, hey? I tell them to: “shut up and eat your free food and don’t think I haven’t noticed you haven’t paid rent or made your bed for about a month”. Fair? I think so.

Anyhoot, back to the dahl … the dependents said they liked this one. Don’t skip the lime twist at the end. It makes it. And, though I didn’t try it, if you can get your hands on a jar of Bombay Sandwich Spread, a little mixed through at the end, or spooned through natural yoghurt and dolloped on top, would be yummo too.

Have I mentioned the Bombay Sandwich Spread before? I don’t think I have. I must do. Off for my fix of Indian down Harris Park way right now though. I’ll tell ya’all tomorrow.

Coconut, tomato and lentil 
dhal with toasted almonds
2tbspn vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 carrot diced
2tspn cumin seeds
2tspn yellow mustard seeds
2.5cm piece of root ginger, grated
2tspn ground turmeric
1tspn mild chilli powder
1tspn garam masala
1 cup red split lentils
400ml boiling vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
5 tomatoes, chopped
Juice of two limes
4tbspn fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and black pepper
¼ cup flaked almonds, toasted

Heat the oil in a pan and soften the onion. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, mustard seeds and carrot and cook until the mustard seeds start to pop and the carrot starts to soften.

Add the turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala and cook until you can smell the yummy spices mingling.

Tip the mixture into your crock pot. Add the lentils, the stock, the coconut milk and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, stir and cover.

Cook on high for two hours or until the lentils are soft. Stir midway through to prevent the lentils from sticking. Stir in the lime juice and coriander and cook for a further half hour. Serve up with rice and your usual Indian accompaniments and top with the toasted almonds.

Now, I stopped the crock pot at two hours and let it cool before putting it away in the fridge to serve the following day. I did not add the lime juice or coriander until I reheated the dhal the next day. Worked a treat.

This recipe is from The Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Catherine Atkinson, published by Hermes House in 2010.
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