Slow Cooker Lentils (Masoor Keema) Recipe

Slow cooker lentils or masoor keema in bowl with spoon.

5 from 4 votes

Slow Cooker Lentils (Masoor Keema) Recipe

These slow cooker brown lentils have bold, smoky flavor from Indian spices like cumin, coriander and garam masala. Take a few minutes to toss the ingredients into a crockpot and hours later you can have a delicious, cozy and nourishing dinner on the table.

Prep Time10

Cook Time3

Total Time3 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 333kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Crockpot

Ingredients

1 cup dried brown lentils (whole masoor)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (any neutral or unflavored oil)
1 medium red onion (finely chopped)
1 heaping tbsp ginger garlic paste (or crush six cloves of garlic and a 1-inch knob of ginger into a paste)
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon asafetida
¼ cup vegan yogurt
2 medium potatoes (cut in a ½-inch dice. Use red or yellow, waxy potatoes)
2 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups water (or vegetable broth)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
Salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soak the lentils overnight or for eight hours. If you don't have time to soak, do a quick soak: place them in a saucepan, cover with two inches of water, and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Drain the lentils before using.
If your crockpot has a "saute" or "sear" function, set it to that. Add oil and when it heats up, add the onions and ginger garlic paste. Saute the onions until they are soft, 2-3 minutes.
Add ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, cayenne and asafetida to the pot. Stir the spices into the onions.
Add the vegan yogurt to the pot and mix it in.
Add the soaked, drained lentils to the pot and stir them in. Saute the lentils for a couple of minutes along with the spices.
Add garam masala and potatoes, mix, then add 2 cups water and salt to taste. Give the lentils a good stir, then cover with the lid. Let the lentils slow-cook on the high setting for three hours or on the low setting for five hours.
Uncover, give the lentils a stir, and add more salt if needed. Squeeze in some lemon juice. Garnish the lentils with cilantro before serving.

Notes

Soaking lentils will improve the texture of the cooked lentils. You can either soak them overnight or, if you forgot or just don't have the time, do a quick soak, which works just as well: place the lentils in a saucepan, cover with water by two inches, and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and drain the lentils immediately.
I made this recipe in my Instant Dutch oven, which has convenient "sear/saute" and "slow-cook" functions, but I've just as often made this in my six-quart Instant Pot Duo on the "slow cook" setting, with equally good results. A more traditional crockpot works just as well -- set it to high heat for sauteing the ingredients.
These lentils are not saucy because they are meant to be scooped up with an Indian flatbread, much like a vegan keema masala. But if you want to make it a soupier, dal-like dish, you can easily do so by increasing the amount of water. Start out by adding an extra cup of water, then add more as needed to thin the dal out.

Nutrition