When Pasta visited an Indian Kitchen.......

I have the habit of planning our meals at least a day before. I always find a way to stick to that plan. If I know that the day is going to be a busy one at work, I take my tiny slow cooker out and let it do the major part of the dinner. When I return home, just the finishing touches will remain.

On one such day, I took out the tiny slow cooker and set it to cook the dhal for “Dhal Dhokli”. But the day was so hectic that unexpected need arose at work and I had to stay late than usual. When I reached home there was no time to prepare the dhokli (tiny dumplings made with plain flour). To finish the dish, what I did was, boiled some pasta and added it to the cooked dhal.

The dinner was a success. The recipe was sitting in my lap top waiting to be posted under my slow cooker series. But when I came across HOTM event, I thought that the time has come for the recipe to be posted. Here we go…… My slow cooker dhal dhokli. oh! sorry! slow cooker dhal Pasta

The Ingredients I used:

1 cup of Chopped vegetables (I used carrot, cabbage and cauliflower)
1 cup of masoor dhal (pink lentils)
1 Onion, Chopped
1 teaspoon each of chopped cilantro and curry leaves
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and cloves powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon each of Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain seeds
2 green chillies, slit
1 cup pasta
3 cups of water
1 lemon
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons of oil

Here’s what I did:

In a medium size pan, heated the oil and added the mustard, cumin and ajwain seeds. When they spluttered, added the onion and fried till golden brown. Added the curry leaves and vegetables and stir fried for 2 minutes and added the spice powders except the red chilli powder. Cooked for 1 more minute and poured the 3 cups water. Washed the dhal and added to the water and brought to a boil. Poured the mixture into a 3 quart slow cooker and added the salt. Cooked for 8 hours at low setting. Added the slit green chilli and red chilli powder and cooked for 1 more hour.

In the mean time, cooked the pasta in boiling water and drained. Added the pasta to the cooked dhal and garnished with cilantro. Mixed juice of a lemon before serving.

So, when pasta visited my kitchen , I put it in a pot of dhal!

Note: Since chili peppers tend to turn dark while extended hours of cooking, it is a good idea to add them during the last hour.

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