Spicy Tamarind Green Lentils: A vegan slow cooker dish * Plant Based Recipes: Easy Oil Free Vegan Recipes (2024)

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While it’s economically advantageous to purchase bulk quantities of the pantry staples, such as green lentils, it means that you need to find a lot of vegan recipes that contain them to keep things interesting. We bought a 25 pound bag of green lentils, so it provides the opportunity to experiment. A lot!

But it can be great when you figure out a combination of spices that works for you. This is loosely based on a chana masala, that usually uses chick peas. Tamarind concentrate is a recent find at a local middle eastern and indian grocery store – it’s easy to find. But if you cannot find the concentrate, you can use the paste instead – I can even find paste in small towns.

I had always used paste in the past, but the concentrate is like a syrup as opposed to a paste – it’s fully strained and easy to measure and pour, great for using in dressings and sauces. It’s also incredibly inexpensive (a pouch that lasts us for months only costs about $2, the larger pouches are a bit more).

Spicy Tamarind Green Lentil Stew

A simple hearty and inexpensive plant-based dish containing green lentils and onion that can be made in the slow cooker. Just combine all ingredients, and let the crockpot do almost all of the work!

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: green lentils, onions, spicy food, tamarind, tomatoes

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours hours

Total Time: 5 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 Servings

Calories: 174kcal

Author: Jen deHaan

Ingredients

5 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2.5 cups green lentils
1 cup white onion cut into chunks
1-3 serrano pepper diced & optionally de-seeded
15 oz diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
2 tsp tamarind concentrate
4 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp ginger minced
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp stevia extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
15 oz thickened non-dairy milk see notes

Instructions

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, reserving the coconut milk.
Cook in slow cooker for 4 hours at high, or 6 hours at low heat. Add more broth if necessary during cook cycle.
Before serving, mix in the thickened plant-based milk (see notes). Serve with a whole grain vegan naan bread or rice.

Notes

Tamarind Concentrate: This ingredient can be found at middle eastern groceries. Can also use tamarind paste, but concentrate is like a syrup and does not contain any grit/sediment. It's easier to measure and use. You can also find tamarind concentrate online.

Thickened non-dairy milk: Combine your favorite low-fat plant-based milk (such as soy, almond, cashew, or hemp milk) with 2-3 Tbsp of corn starch, arrowroot powder, or potato starch and whisk well. Or, combine 1/4 cup of cashews with about 12oz of water and blend in a high-speed blender until creamy and smooth.

Diced tomatoes: You can use canned or fresh, also add juices.

Stevia extract: Find recipe at http://plants.to/stevia

Nutrition Facts

Spicy Tamarind Green Lentil Stew

Amount per Serving

Calories

174

% Daily Value*

Fat

Tamarind concentrate or paste

Tamarind concentrate is an extremely flavorful spice. It is really tangy and citrusy, and due to the strength of the concentrate, you only need to add a small amount. As mentioned above, you might be able to find it at a middle eastern grocery store but if not it is available online on many grocery sites such as Amazon.

If you cannot find the concentrate or do not wish to order online, you can use the very easy to find in local stores tamarind paste instead. You will just need to increase the amount according to your taste (try doubling the amount and adjusting to taste).

About Post Author

Jen deHaan

Jen is a plant-based nutrition enthusiast and vegan living in British Columbia, Canada. She has over 20 years experience in software, graphics, and art, including many years in Silicon Valley corporations. Jen completed the Developing Healthy Communities graduate program at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Jen really likes dogs and dancing too.

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