Indian Korma

I adapted this recipe to the crock pot from the stovetop version I found here. I also gave it a red lentil base, to add vegetarian protein and good carbs. Finally, you'll see that the original has chicken in it and some different veggies. I skipped the chicken, and used what vegetables/nuts I had on hand.

Ingredients:

Saute pan step:

1. 2 Tbs coconut oil or butter or cooking oil (not margarine) 
2. 1 onion, diced 
3. 2 cloves of garlic, minced 
4. 1.5 tbs curry powder (not all curries are created equally. I recommend Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder; terrific flavor, and not hot-spicy for my kids) 
5. 1 tsp chili powder 
6. 2 tsp Garam Masala 
7. 1.5 tsp turmeric 
8. 1 Tbsp ground cumin 

Crock pot step: 

1. 1 cup of split red lentils (they are actually orange-ish in color; can find them in bulk section at Wheatsfield or HyVee), rinsed in cold water and picked through for any stones/debris 
2. 1.5 cups of water 
3. 1 can coconut milk (full fat; the lite stuff has filler in and is not as good) 
4. 1/4 cup ground almond flour or other ground nuts (this can be skipped very readily; I used it because I had it on hand) 
5. 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped 
6. 1/2 of a small zucchini squash, sliced or diced 
7. 1/2 c. frozen peas 
8. 1 cup sliced mushrooms 

• 2 tsp salt 
• additional salt and pepper to taste 

Garnishes (if you're considering skipping any of these, please allow me to say that they really do add a lot to round out the flavors, especially the lime)

1. cilantro, washed and chopped (garnish) 
2. lime wedges (garnish) 
3. cashews (garnish) 

Instructions:

1. Melt the fat in the saute pan on medium heat. Add the onions and saute until a bit transluscent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spices, and saute until fragrant (about 1 minute is all it takes, so it's helpful if you've measured out the spices all into a bowl and dump it in rather than measure them individually into the saute pan. Otherwise you risk burning the spices.) 
2. In a crock pot place the contents of the saute pan and the next 8 ingredients. Protip: If I want to speed things up, I'll microwave the liquids before dumping them in the pot. If you'd rather have a crunch to your peas, you can wait and add them near the end of cooking time. Don't add the salt yet because too much salt will prevent the lentils from softening fully. Oh!  And add more water if necessary.  The liquid should be high enough to cover everything.  The vegetables will let out water, but you don't want things to dry out. 
3. Cook on high for 3 hours (that's what I did), or my guess is low for 6 hours. I'm not really sure how long this would take to cook on low, but a long cook on low would be ideal for a workday so give it a try and let me know, lol. Add the 2 tsp of salt and stir, then add any additional salt and pepper to taste.    
4. Serve with rice (I used brown Basmati that I cooked in my rice cooker) or naan, and plenty of garnishes. Enjoy!! 

The above recipe contains the exact vegetables I used in Nicole's curry, but I also or alternatively recommend the following vegetables:

• red pepper (add this in the saute step) 
• sweet potato, diced (crock pot step) 
• broccoli, chopped (crock pot step) 
• green beans, fresh or frozen (crock pot step)