I realize that for some of you, the slow cooker is now a relic from the past tucked away in the recesses of the basement with a sticky note marked donate if possible.
Those of you who know your way around an instant pot (don’t look at me, I still use libraries), will likely know how to adapt this recipe to make it just right.
This cozy bean dish intermingled with tender root vegetables, gets its soul from the husky curry. The flavor profile is a little different from other curries I’ve tried including the welcome addition of peppercorn (softened in the slow cooker) which releases a gorgeous aroma and works magic in combination with the other ingredients.
I like using the slow cooking method to develop both the texture and taste of this curry. As always, you can adapt the recipe to suit your own preferences but the version here is the one we enjoy. Complex and muscly without being overly hot. I hope it works for you too. Oh, and there’s still a few hours left to enter IE’s holiday favorites giveaway for 3 Variety Wraps Sets from Abeego! I’ll be drawing the 3 names tomorrow, so be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.
- For the Stew:
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 2 regular carrots, chopped (or 12 or so baby carrots)
- 2 parsnips, chopped
- 8 baby potatoes, cut in half or quartered (I used a mix of purple/red/golden babies)
- 8 oz (227 g) sliced fresh mushrooms (variety of choice)
- 15.5 oz (440 g) cooked chickpeas, rinsed
- 15.5 oz (440 g) cooked black beans, rinsed
- For the Curry:
- 2 bay leaves
- 10-12 peppercorns (I used rainbow)
- 1 Tbsp coriander powder
- 1 rounded tsp red chili powder (I used Frontier co-op brand with cumin, garlic & oregano)
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chili pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt (or less see Notes)
- 2 cups unsalted tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup low-sodium vegetable stock
- ½ cup water
- For Service:
- optional: green onion and/or avocado
- Sauté onion and garlic with some olive oil in a skillet set to low-medium heat, just until the onion is translucent (about 6 minutes). Remove from heat and transfer to slow cooker.
- Add: carrots, parsnip, potatoes, chickpea and black beans to the slow cooker.
- Add seasonings over top: bay leaves; cloves; peppercorn; red pepper flakes; coriander; chili; turmeric; garam masala and salt.
- Top seasonings with: tomato sauce, tomato paste, vegetable stock and water.
- Gently mix all the ingredients (except mushrooms) to combine making sure that most of the beans/veg are tucked under the liquid before putting the slow cooker lid on.
- Cook the stew on high for about 2 hours or until the curry has thickened and taken on a deep rich color. About 20-30 minutes before serving, add the mushrooms, stirring to combine. If the sauce is thicker than you like at service time, simply add a touch more stock or tomato sauce as desired. Taste the stew and make any flavor adjustments desired (touch of salt, touch of sweet, etc).
- Serve the stew in individual bowls on its own, with rice or with coleslaw/salad, as you wish. Top with green onion and/or avocado pieces, as desired.
The Carrots & Parsnip: you don't want to slice them too thin (they'll turn into mush) about ½" maybe; you can peel the parsnip before chopping if you like.
Sodium Level: if you're using tomato sauces/veg stock that already contain salt, you can adjust the amount you add -- 1 tsp is a suggestion - you can start with less and move up as needed.
This was delicious! My husband and kids loved it! I cooked it on the stove because I don’t have a slow cooker. It came together real easy. I left out the chili powder because I didn’t have any and just threw in a tsp. of cumin. I used pumpkin, sweet potato, potato and the mushrooms because that’s what I had. Next time I would leave out the potato and mushroom because we liked the sweet potato and pumpkin best. We topped it with scallions, cilantro, fresh chilies, Franks and yogurt. All the fixins! Including hot cornbread with lots of butter and honey. Perfect for a cold Autumn day. Thanks for the yummy and easy recipe!
Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to share your detailed feedback and experience with this recipe, i’m delighted it worked out for you and that you made it your own — that’s really the ideal situation when you can work with your personal preferences and what you have on hand, as you’ve done here. I must say the hot cornbread with honey lovin’ :) sounds especially delicious, wee bit jealous, haha, cheers!
This is a wonderful recipe. Of course, you had me at curried. I could probably eat curried shoe soles! But seriously, it’s fabulous and healthy!
heeheeh, curried shoe soles :o) thanks for the sunshine MiMi! :))
I’m with you Kelly – low and slow! We received 3 “crock pots” for wedding presents overs 40 years ago, then sold them 2 years later in a garage sale. Have never replaced them. :) Of course, I have the time now to leave something like this curry on the stovetop all day if I want. Lots of nice flavors and textures in this dish. Love the idea of making a curry from scratch.
yeah, the flavors are a bit unique (to me anyway) as far as curries go. Love those husky notes in the wintertime to warm all the cockles :) amazing what goes out in those garage sales over the years… for the most part, a happy purging process tho i regret selling my little sewing machine years ago which we just recently replaced. Cheers MJ!
You’re Hilarious! AND you need me at the dinner table, deal?
haha! we’re all out of stew but I’m sure we could rustle something up ;o)
I laughed out loud, donate if possible!!! I use my slow cooker all the time. In fact, I have three, various sizes and shspes. Love them all. The very thought of coming home to the aromas wafting from the meal cooking all day is mesmerizing! It reminds me of the times I came home ftom school and my Mom was cooking the family dinner. I have even used it on holiday in a rental home. The bean curry sounds wonderful, something I will try in the next while. I sure hope I’ve already entered, would love a few more of the beeswax cloths.
what a beautiful association with your Mom’s home cooked meals. I went through a phase where I couldn’t look at the slow cooker (too many repeat meals from my university days ;-) but find it pretty great today, variety helps. Thanks so much for entering the draw Eva!
Slow-cooker all the way. It still puzzles me that, when pressure cookers were around almost at the same time dinosaurs roam the planet (sorry for the biologically wrong joke), people act as if the instant pot is the “discovery” of the century. It is not. Pressure cookers reach higher pressure and do it faster. Slow-cookers do that part of the job better and in a much more user-friendly pan shape. There. I feel better.
Love this recipe – I assume you use canned chickpeas and black beans, right?
yeah, these things get rebirthed in fancier form but are sometimes somebody else’s good idea :) a bit like the sous-vide – method’s been around for ages with a really interesting history. Yep, in this case I used canned beans (bpa free from whole foods).
Haha, donate it if you can, love that. I still use my slow-cooker (but I’ll admit to eyeing the Instant Pot :). This dish looks amazing, is it really vegan? Wow, great job.
understood :) exploring is fun and let’s not forget the instant pot’s most redeeming quality, invented in Ottawa by former Nortel employees, gotta love that!
I go to libraries and love my slow cooker, Kelly. Low living at it’s best and I’m just peachy about it! I’m loving this curry with all it’s peppercorn and garam masala goodness. What a treat! It’s so needed this time of year. Thank you too for your gift guide xo
low and slow works for me ;) them exotic spices too! thanks Traci, x