Slow Cooker: Kale-Spinach Cannellini Beans Side Dish

Yet another simple, tasty and healthy dish for those long days. I love it when you get home from work and not have to think about what to make for dinner.

I used a combination of Spinach and Kale. You can use just Spinach or Kale if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• Spinach - Washed and chopped - 2 cups
• Kale - Washed and chopped  - 4 cups
• Dried Cannellini beans - 2 cups (you can use any other dried beans)
• Onion - Chopped - 1 medium (I used Red Onion)
• Salt - 1 table spoon (add per taste)
• Turmeric - 1 tea spoon
• Coriander powder - 2 tea spoons
• Cumin powder - 1 tea spoon
• Red Chilly powder - 2 tea spoons (add per taste)
• Water - 6 cups

Method:

Add all the above ingredients to the slow cooker and cook it at high for 6-8 hours.  Add more water if you like a little diluted consistency.  Mix well, drizzle some Olive oil and serve with Bread, Chapati, Naan, Roti, Rice or you can eat by itself.

Healthy Slow Cooker Brown Lentil Side Dish / Misal Pav ( Matki Usal)

This is one of those healthy yummy simple dishes which you can make for a party ahead of time...will be loved and talked about by everyone for a long time :)

Ingredients: For 8-10 large servings

• Dried Moth bean - 3 cups
• Onion - 1 chopped
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Red Chili Powder - 1 table spoon (adjust per taste)
• Coriander Powder - 1 table spoon
• Cumin Powder - 1 table spoon
• Ginger Paste - 1 table spoon
• Garlic Paste - 1 table spoon (optional)
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 table spoon
• Salt - 2 table spoons (adjust per taste)
• Coconut oil - 1 tea spoon
• Water - 8-10 cups

For Garnish:

• Onion - 1 finely chopped
• Cilantro - 1 cup finely chopped 
• Lemon - 2 table spoons (optional)

Method:

Add all the ingredients above except for the ones to garnish in a slow cooker/crock pot.  Put it on high for 8-10 hours.  How do you know it is done??  House will smell divine and of course the moth beans will be cooked all the way through :)

Garnish and serve hot with bread, pav, roti or it tastes really good by itself.

Slow cooker Garlic-Peanut Yellow Lentils / Lahsun-Moongphali Dal

Simple ingredients married together to form an explosion of flavors....yes, this is one such recipe!! 

Ingredients:

•  Toor dal - Yellow lentils - 2 cups
• Onion - one medium - Thinly sliced
• Garlic - 5-6 pods - Minced finely
• Whole Peanuts - 1/2 cup
• Cilantro - 2 table spoons - finely chopped
• Green chilies - 5-6 - roughly chopped (adjust per taste)
• Olive oil - 1 table spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Salt - 1 table spoon (adjust pre taste)
• Turmeric - 1 tea spoon
• Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves

Method:

In the slow cooker, add Lentils, Onion, Garlic, Whole peanuts, Green Chilies, Salt, Turmeric and about 6 cups of water.  Turn it on low for 6-8 hours. 
Just before you are ready to eat, heat a small sauce pan on medium heat.  Add Olive oil to it.  Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to it and let them splutter.  Now add the curry leaves and take the pan off the heat.  Add this to the dal and enjoy it with hot white rice or roti!!

Pepper Mutton/Lamb - Pressure cooker and Crock pot/Slow cooker methods

This is one of my daughter's favourite food.  Even though it is spicy, she cleans out her plate :)
Very simple to make...quick and easy too.  You can also use a Crock pot/Slow cooker to make this. 

Ingredients:

• Coconut oil - 1 table spoon
• Curry leaves - 8-10
• Onion - 1/2 cup chopped thin and long
• Whole red chilies - 5-8
• Salt - 1 table spoon
• Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
• Yogurt - 2 table spoons
• Mutton/Lamb - 2 pounds cut into pieces

For the spice Mix : Dry roast and grind all the below ingredients using a spice grinder.

• Black pepper - 1 tea spoon
• Elaichi - 1 pod
• Fennel seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon

Method Pressure Cooker:

To the cooker on medium heat, add the coconut oil. Once the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add the curry leaves and let them splutter. Add the onions and saute them till translucent. Add the whole red chillies. Then simmer the flame to the lowest. Add the spice mix you just ground in the spice grinder (If the flame is not simmered, the spice mix might burn). Then add the Mutton/Lamb pieces, Yogurt, Salt and Turmeric. Mix well and cook closed. Add 1 cup water to start off cooking.  Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for about 10-15 minutes (3-4 whistles).  Serve this yummy fingerlicking goodness with some hot White Fragrant Ghee Rice, Roti, Chapati or Naan.

Method Crock pot/Slow cooker:

Add all the ingredients into the slow cooker.  Add 3 cups of water and cook it on high for 6-8 hrs.

Kaale Chane Ki Sabzi-Black Chickpeas Stirfried Indian style

Mom's cooking is the best!!  Everyone would agree.  I learnt how to cook watching my mom or helping her in the kitchen.  Many dishes I have made my own now altering it to taste like what my husband or daughter would love.  But, for me the taste of my mom's food still lingers....

This side dish (which my daughter eats as her main) is easy to make, tasty and healthy.

Ingredients:

Black Chickpeas - 2 cups cooked (see the note below)

Onion - 1 large chopped fine

Garlic - 2 medium pods chopped fine

Cumin powder - 1 tea spoon

Red chili powder - 1 tea spoon (add per taste)

Turmeric powder- 1 tea spoon

Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon

Olive oil - 1 table spoon

Salt - 1 tea spoon (add per taste)

Method:

To a pan on medium heat, add Olive oil.  Add the chopped Onion and Garlic to it once the oil is heated.  Saute for a few minutes until the Onions get translucent.  Add all the other ingredients and saute for a minute.  Now, add the Chickpeas and mix well.  Cover and let it heat thoroughly.  Enjoy hot with Roti, Phulka or Paratha or eat it by itself.

Note:

• You can buy black Chickpeas in most grocery stores.  In any Asian grocers for sure.  They are found in dried form. 
• I cooked my dried black Chickpeas in the slow cooker for 8 hours on high. 
  You can also use a pressure cooker to cook them.  For one cup of dried Chickpeas, add about 3 cups of water.  Drain the remaining water once they are cooked.
• You can hydrate your black Chickpeas in water overnight.  They will need a lot less cooking time if they are hydrated.  You can cook them on the stove top covered with water for about 20-30 minutes.
• Add a little salt while cooking.  This makes it taste better.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Khichidi (Quinoa and Lentils Indian style)

Khichidi is soul food for many.  I could eat it from breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It is so easy and quick to make and so very delicious to eat.  Also guilt free as I am using Quinoa.  Slow cooker (crockpot) is my best friend on weekdays.  This is one of those recipes which just takes 5 minutes to assemble.  Just put it to cook when you leave to work in the morning and you will enter a fragrant home. 

Ingredients:

• Quinoa - 1 cup
• Toor dal (split yellow lentils) - 1 cup
• Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tea spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Curry leaves - 5-8 number
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper corns - 1 tea spoon crushed (add per taste)
• Olive oil - 1 table spoon
• water - 6 cups (use less if you like thick consistency.  I love it a little runny)

Method:

Add all the above ingredients to the slow cooker.  Put it on low for about 6-8 hours.  Hot and fragrant Khichici is ready to be served.  You can serve this with some potato chips, pickle or just plain drizzled with some ghee.

Note: 

• If you do not have a slow cooker, you can use a pressure cooker instead.  Just add all the ingredients (water=4 cups instead of 6) and pressure cook it until 3 whistles (that is about 10 minutes depending on the size of the pressure cooker).
• You might need to adjust time for the slow cooker depending on the kind of cooker and sometimes the type of dal also.  Just increase the cooking time by another hour or two if you see that the dal is not completely cooked.  Also, cooking for little longer does not harm the taste or quality of the dish.  The slow cooker does not burn food.

Slow cooker / Crockpot Sambar (lentil curry)

This is one of those recipes which you can assemble (for a lack of better work) in the crock pot in the morning before leaving to work and when you come back home, is ready to be seasoned and served!!

Ingredients:

• Toor dal - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 medium sliced thin
• Vegetable - 2-3 cups (I used Lauki. Also called bottle gourd) chopped bite size
• Tomatoes - 2 chopped fine
• Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon (optional. Tomatoes give sourness)
• Cilantro leaves - 1/4th cup finely chopped
• Salt - 1 table spoon (add per taste)
• Chili powder - 1 table spoon (add per taste)
• Sambar powder (curry powder) - 1 table spoon
• Coriander powder - 1 table spoon
• Water - 6 cups

For seasoning:

• Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Curry leaves - 10 to 12
• Olive oil - 1 table spoon

Method:

To the slow cooker / crock pot, add all the above ingredients (do not add the 'for seasoning').  Put it on slow for 6-8 hours.  After 6-8 hours, heat a small pan on medium heat.  Put Olive oil and let it heat.  Add Mustard seeds and let it splutter.  Add curry leaves.  Add this to the Sambar and it is ready to be served! It tastes wonderful with rice, roti, chapati, etc.

Note:

Adjust the Chili powder quantity if your Sambar powder has chili powder add to it already.