Getting up early isn’t one of my strong points, so you know I must be excited about a new recipe when I jump out of bed to get it started. (I have only done this once before, for my ill-fated bba bagels.)

Cooking before work is a strange experience, I always end up in the twinned positions of being rather smug that I have been so productive but also cutting it very very fine for my first meeting of the day. With slow cooking however you have little choice, if you want a slow cooked meal ready for coming home to – you have to make sacrifices.

slow_cooked_lentil_curry

I am getting more into cooking vegetarian meals, which can only be a good thing. Variety is always good, and I am sooo bored of chicken, but the real reason I do it is because I have a vegetarian friend.

The first time I cooked for her, it was sort of a disaster, it was edible but it wasn’t very good. This is what happens when you have no vegetarian recipes in your repertoire, you have to find a recipe and have to trust it will be good.

Now I have quite a few vegetarian recipes ready for next time I invite her round, one is this slow cooked lentil curry. Having new good recipes for when she comes round to dinner is the real reason I force myself to get up early in the morning.

Slow Cooked Lentil and Vegetable Curry

~ Inspired by this Crock Pot Red Lentil Curry

Serves two (with some left overs).

  • 200grams of red lentils
  • 1/2 onion
  • 2 small carrots diced
  • 1 courgette (zucchini) diced
  • 3 mushrooms diced
  • 2 handfuls of broad beans (double podded)
  • 1/2 tsp of ground corriander
  • 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp of ground garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp of ginger (I used the pre-pared minced ginger)
  • 2 cups (480ml) of hot water
  • salt and pepper to season

Method

  1. Put the slow-cooker on at the highest setting.
  2. Add the chopped onion into a pan under a medium heat. After they start to soften, after around 5 minutes, add the carrots. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
  3. Add the courgette and mushrooms, once these are starting to soften (another 4 minutes or so) add the spices and ginger.
  4. Pour the two cups of water into the pan, and let it come to the boil.
  5. Add the lentils into the slow cooker, and then pour in the mixture from the pan. Stir to make sure all the lentils are submerged in the water. Place the lid on the slow cooker.
  6. I left mine on a high heat for 4 hours, turning on to a low heat for the next four hours. (This was probably a little too cooked, so I would leave it on medium for the first few hours and then turn down to low for the remaining time. )

The great thing about this curry is it’s versatility, I know that I can add almost any vegetable into this curry to use it up. I also know that if I needed to make it in a couple of hours rather than 8, it would do fine on top of the hob under a low heat.