Last week after the Broccoli, Eggplant & Snow Pea Curry, I found myself once again craving more curry-flavored foods. Since I wasn’t in the mood for another curry dish, I opted to try a recipe I found on www.southernfood.about.com, as it combined a few of my favorite ingredients: curry, lentils & spinach.
The best thing about this meal?! It involved a Crock-pot. And what does a recipe involving a Crock-pot usually mean? Minimal prep work, no actual cooking and dinner is ready the minute you walk in the door.
For me, a really busy new graduate student, this is truly a perfect type of meal. It literally took me about 10 minutes to put it all together.
The only prep? Chopping up a medium onion and mincing 2 large garlic cloves. Then, throw ALL the ingredients into the Crock-pot. Turn it onto low, and let it cook for 6 hours, or until the rice & lentils are tender.
Serve. Garnish with mint or chopped tomato, if desired.
I didn’t have any mint/chopped tomato on hand to top the Curried-Spiced Lentils & Spinach, but in my opinion: it wasn’t necessary. It smelled absolutely curry-spicedtastic when I walked in the door for dinner, and it definitely held up to its expectations when I took my first, second, third…and last bites. Seriously incredible.
And when I served up my leftovers out of the Crock-pot into containers, I couldn’t let the remnants in the pot go to waste…
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Peanut Butter Fingers style.
Seriously, it was that good. Especially if you like curry & lots of flava.
Curried-Spiced Lentils & Spinach (About 3 servings)
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup lentils, rinsed
- 1/4 cup brown rice
- 1 10-oz package chopped spinach
- 1 can (1 1/2 cups) vegetable broth
- salt to taste
Combine the above ingredients in a Crock-Pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until lentils & rice are tender. Serve, and garnish with chopped tomato or mint, if desired.
Who else loves curry? Have a recipe I should try?! I’m looking for more ways to use up my curry paste & curry powder!!!
Learn more about Crock-Pots and find more recipes (including this one!), here:
Love curry of any kind, and always on the hunt for new curry recipes to try. Thanks for your curry recipe.
I don’t have a lot of experience eating or cooking curry, so when I try it never turns out right. I keep looking though. Is this a dish that you eat alone or do you serve it as a side? I like the use of lentils!
It can be used as both. I use it as a main dish, but I often eat vegetarian, so it makes more sense. If you serve it as a side, though, it probably makes between 4-6 servings. It really is easy, and its a great, uncomplicated way to incorporate curry into your food! If you try it, let me know what you think
I did make this last night. I thought the flavor was really good, and the curry was not overwhelming (I may add more next time). The only problem I had was the quantity of broth listed was not enough to cover the mixture and it evaporated and dried up by the time I got home from working, leaving the lentils and rice uncooked. I added much more broth and cooked it at high for an additional three hours. I’ll be posting a blog about it in a couple of weeks. I will be making this again – but applying the lessons learned. By the way, I love your blog and have given you an award on my site. http://mouth-open.blogspot.com/p/awards.html
I’m glad you tried the recipe, but I”m sorry it didn’t work out. Its good to know, though, that the recipe may depend on the type/model of cooker you’re using, or perhaps the climate — because the recipe definitely worked for me with the broth listed — glad you enjoyed it though, and may add more curry
That in and of itself makes me happy 
thanks for the award!
Curry in a crockpot!It looks delicious!I saw your blog from the foodie blog roll and I like what you have here.if you won’t mind I’d love to guide Foodista readers to this post.Just add the foodista widget at the end of this post and it’s all set, Thanks!