• 3 c. whole dried black lentils, cleaned and washed thoroughly
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 1 (2 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 4-6 Thai, serrano or cayenne chilies, stems removed
• 2 bunches fresh cilantro, washed and chopped (about 2 cups), divided
• 1 T. ground cumin
• 1 T. ground coriander
• 1 T. garam masala
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. tumeric
• red chile powder to taste (1 t.-1 T.)
• 12 c. water

• Mix together the spices (cumin, coriander, garam masala, salt, tumeric and red chile powder) and set aside.
• Chop up the onions. Chop the ginger, garlic and chilies and set aside. Fry the onions until well cooked. Add the ginger, garlic and chilies and fry for 30 seconds. Add the spice mixture and stir until spices are fragrant and onions are well coated with the spices. Add 1 c. water and stir it around to loosen anything that is sticking to the pan.
• Add this mixture to a food processor or blender along with half (~1 c.) of the cilantro and chop until fine (no need to be obsessive about this). Pour this mixture into the crockpot (5-6 quart size).
• Add the rest of the water and the lentils to the crockpot. Cook for 6-8 hours on high (closer to the 6 hr. mark should usually be good). At the end of the cooking time, add the rest of the chopped cilantro
• Serve over rice and top with plain yogurt.

* This recipe makes a fuckton of curry (14 cups!). The recipe can easily be cut in half or in thirds to make less at a time. Or you can just do like I do and make the whole recipe and then freeze half or 2/3 of it for later meals (freezes very well).

• The Indian Slow Cooker, p. 51