Simple Slow-Cooker Yellow Dal
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“Dal” is an absolute staple in our house. It is pure and simple, Indian comfort food.
Essentially, it is spiced lentil stew. Rich, warm spices like turmeric, cumin, and coriander fill my kitchen when I’m cooking dal. And the husband always loves it. Layla does too! She eats it up with no problems at all.
You can make dal with just about any type of lentil. I like using split chickpeas – or “chana dal” because of their flavor and texture. But I’ve made dal with red lentils, small black lentils, even black eyed peas! You can use the same spice combo and switch out your legume and it still works great.
I often serve it with some sort of “sabji” or stir-fried veggies with Indian spices, but oftentimes I’ll throw veggies like kale or sweet potato straight into the dal and eat it as a one-pot dish.
The best thing about this is – you can cook the lentils in the slow cooker, and just add in the spice mixture at the end, so your “active” time ends up being only 15 minutes! Or, if you don’t have a slow cooker, you can let it simmer on the stove for an hour or so and you’ll be good to go.
Kitchen Tools I Used for this Recipe:
- A reliable slow cooker. I like this one from Crock-Pot
- A good, but affordable Chef’s Knife and Cutting Board
The Ingredients
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
- 1 cup split chickpeas (or chana dal), soaked in cold water for 1 hour
- 3 cups water
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro leaves
- 1 tsp salt
The Directions
Step 1: Add the lentils, salt, and 3 cups of water to a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
Step 2: When your lentils are close to done, heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add a couple cumin seeds to test out the heat of the oil. If they pop, the oil is ready to go! Add all of your cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let cook for 10-15 seconds (until the seeds pop). Then add your coriander, turmeric, cayenne, onion, tomato, and garlic, stir for 30 seconds, and turn the heat down to medium low. Let it cook until the onions become translucent and the tomatoes break down.
Step 3: Add the onion/tomato/spice mixture to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Top with cilantro and serve!
How easy is that? Thanks to a slow cooker it literally is a 3 step process.
This dal will warm you up from the inside out. It’s vegetarian, vegan and gluten free, and it is just about the tastiest healthy meal you will ever eat 🙂
Simple Slow-Cooker Yellow Dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup split chickpeas or chana dal soaked in cold water for 1 hour. You can also use yellow split peas if you don't have chana dal.
- 3 cups water
- 3 tomatoes diced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 5 large garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro leaves
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the lentils, salt, and 3 cups of water to a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
- When your lentils are close to done, heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add a couple cumin seeds to test out the heat of the oil. If they pop, the oil is ready to go! Add all of your cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let cook for 10-15 seconds (until the seeds pop). Then add your coriander, turmeric, cayenne, onion, tomato, and garlic, stir for 30 seconds, and turn the heat down to medium low. Let it cook until the onions become translucent and the tomatoes break down.
- Add the onion/tomato/spice mixture to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Top with cilantro and serve!
I’m wanting to make this but I’m not supposed to have tomatoes, what would you replace the tomatoes with?
Thankyou 🌻
Hi Reanna! You can either use canned diced tomatoes, or omit the tomatoes altogether (it will still taste good!)
Can you DOUBLE the recipe? If so, would you need to double ALL of the ingredients too, including the dry ingredients? Thanks for the recipe, Anjali!
Hi Denise! Yes exactly – if you double this recipe, you should double ALL of the ingredients – including all of the spices, dry ingredients, etc. Hope that helps!
This is my go-to dal recipe. Tasty and very easy. Thanks!
Yay! So happy to hear that Mel!
Hi!!! Great recipe! Would love to try it out. I have red lentils — would this recipe still work for it?? Just have to soak??
Thanks Rachel! You can totally use red lentils in this recipe! You don’t even have to soak them because they cook so fast! 🙂
Love this recipe added Ming beans red lentils, small potato, grated ginger and minced green chili. Let the pot do the work over night. YUM!
Yay!! That is awesome – so happy to hear that Edward! 🙂
Do you have to presoak yellow split peas if you use those?
No you don’t have to presoak the split peas! The slow cooker allows you to save that step!
I made the recipe today and OH MY GOD!!! I won’t need to go to a restaurant to get them every again. DELICIOUS! The only thing I would add is ginger. But other than that, it’s perfect! I’m happy I found it
Hooray!! I’m so happy to hear that and love the idea of adding ginger too! 🙂
So easy to make and really tasty! Love the detailed description on how to make it with the helpful little tips too esp for a beginner!!. . Thank you so much. God bless you 💕
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Easy and good. I will definitely make again!
Hooray! So happy to hear that Nicole! 🙂
How do you reheat the Dal in a microwave? I want to maintain the soupy texture.
Hi Zachary! You can just heat it as you would anything else in the microwave. You can cover it with a plate so that it doesn’t spatter. After reheating, if it’s not soupy enough, you can add a little bit of water and reheat it again. Hope that helps!
Hi, I only have ground cumin on hand, can I use this instead of seeds, and do I adjust the amount then? This looks like an awesome comfort food.
Hi Jeanne! You can definitely use ground cumin instead of whole cumin! One teaspoon of cumin seeds will yield about 3/4 teaspoon of ground cumin – so you can use that ratio for replacing it. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
This is just delicious and so simple. Thank you very much, I’ll be making this a lot!
Yay! So happy to hear that you liked this recipe! It’s definitely one we make a lot too!