8 Tasty Meals To Make In Your Slow-Cooker

The night before, place the chicken, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and half the curry paste in the slow-cooker insert. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or, in this case, overnight.

In the morning, place the insert into the slow cooker and add in the remaining curry paste, stock, vegetables, coconut milk, stevia, leftover lemongrass and bay leaves.

Stir to combine. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

In the evening, if you like a thicker curry, 20 minutes before serving stir in the arrowroot or cornflour paste. Cook on high with the lid off for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Garnish with the spring onions and serve with roti, mountain bread or poppadoms.

In the morning, melt the butter in a hot frying pan and brown the chicken all over. Remove from the pan and place it upside down in the slow-cooker insert.

Combine the lime juice with the spices and salt in the same pan over low heat. Add the rice malt syrup and stir until melted and combined.

Pour the mixture over the upside-down chicken and rub all over, including the cavity, to coat thoroughly.

Cover and cook for 6 hours on low or 3 ½ hours on high.

In the evening, to make the slaw, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently sweat the broccoli until almost tender. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until warmed through.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and slice the meat from the bone. Serve with slaw.

For the hummus, tip the chickpeas into a bowl and cover with plenty of cold water (they will expand as they soak). Cover and leave to soak – there’s no need to refrigerate them – for 12 hours, or overnight. There aren’t any shortcuts to this, just aim to soak them the day before.

Drain the chickpeas and put into a medium saucepan. Pour in the fresh measured cold water so that the water only covers the chickpeas by about 2cm. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda, then bring the water to the boil. Don’t be tempted to add salt at this stage as it can make the chickpeas tough. Keep a watchful eye as it comes to the boil as it can easily boil over.

Skim off any scum with a slotted spoon. Cook over a medium heat or in a slow-cooker for 1-1 ½ hours until the chickpeas are very soft. If the water level seems to be going down too quickly then partially cover the pan with a lid to help reduce evaporation, but don’t cover the top completely or the pan will boil over. Keep an eye on the water level and top up with a little extra boiling water from the kettle if needed, especially towards the end of cooking. Stir from time to time, stirring more towards the end of cooking, as the chickpeas take on a soupy texture as there is less water in the pan.

Once cooked, drain the liquid if there is a lot, but don’t throw it away – keep it for later to adjust the consistency. Spread the chickpeas over the surface of a large roasting tin and leave to cool.

You should have about 1.25kg cooked chickpeas. Purée in batches with any liquid from the roasting tin in a food processor, adding the tahini, lemon juice and salt to taste until you have a creamy, velvety smooth consistency. Adjust the consistency with some of the reserved cooking liquid or water. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your machine. Make sure it’s nice and thick, but smooth.

Transfer the hummus to a large plastic container, spread it level, then press on a well-fitting lid. Chill until needed.

Drain the soaked chickpeas, put into a medium saucepan and pour in the water so that the chickpeas are covered by about 2cm. Add the oil and cumin and bring to the boil. Skim off any scum, then partially cover with a lid and cook over a medium heat, or in a slow-cooker, for 40-60 minutes until the chickpeas are tender but still a good shape. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl to catch the cooking liquid.

Spread the hummus over 4 serving plates and make a small well in the middle. Add a few spoonfuls of chickpeas to each well. Dress each portion with lots of olive oil, lemon juice and tahini sauce, then season to taste. Moisten with some of the reserved cooking liquid, if necessary and top with a little paprika and chopped parsley.

Soak the quinoa overnight in double the amount of water. When you’re ready to cook, rinse the quinoa and rice until the water runs clear.

Soak the quinoa overnight in double the amount of water. When you’re ready to cook, rinse the quinoa and rice until the water runs clear.

Measure out all of the spices into a cup — this makes it less likely that you'll burn your spices while searching for the others.

Heat the ghee or oil in a large pot. Add all the spices and sauté together on medium heat for a minute until fragrant. Be careful not to overdo this stage – it's better to err on the side of caution on your first attempt than risk frazzling the spices and making them bitter or burnt.

Stir in the mung dal and quinoa. Add 4 cups of water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, lid on.

Cook for 10 minutes, then add the sweet potato. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes (longer if using whole green mung beans or a slow-cooker), or until the dal is completely soft (easily squashed between finger and thumb), the kitchari has a porridge-like consistency and the ghee has risen to the top, adding more water if necessary.

Adjust the seasoning and garnish with fresh chopped herbs or the fresh green chutney if you like.

Mix together half the onion, garlic and ginger and all of the cayenne pepper in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir in the chicken thighs. Cover and leave the chicken to marinate in the fridge for two hours or overnight.

Heat the coconut oil or ghee in a large frying pan, add the remaining onion, garlic and ginger and fry for five minutes, until softened. Tip the onion mixture into the slow cooker pot and add the red pepper, chilli, sweet potatoes, tomato purée, turmeric, coconut milk and tomatoes. Stir well until combined, then press the chicken into the sauce. Cover and cook on low for five to six hours, or high for four to five hours, until the chicken is cooked.

Twenty minutes before serving, turn the heat to high if it’s on low and stir in the kale. Remove the chicken thighs from the sauce, pull the meat off the bones in pieces and return it to the sauce, discarding the bones. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with coriander leaves, black rice and wedges of lime for squeezing over.

For the dhal base, pick through the toor dhal to remove any stones. Place it in a colander and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Transfer the rinsed lentils to a pressure cooker with the boiling water, ginger and salt. Close the pressure cooker and place over a medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you will first need to soak the picked and rinsed lentils in 1 litre of boiling water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain, then transfer the lentils to a large saucepan with 1 litre of fresh boiling water, the ginger and salt. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then simmer over a medium heat for 60 to 70 minutes, topping up the boiling water as needed.)

When the lentils are soft and falling apart, release the steam from the pressure cooker slowly (or remove the pan from the heat). Most of the water should have been absorbed during cooking, but gently crush the lentils with any small amount that remains. Set aside.

For the tadka, place the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cassia bark or cinnamon stick and the cloves and let them sizzle for 30 seconds. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and shake the pan gently. After about 30 seconds, stir in the curry leaves, cumin, coriander, turmeric and kashmiri chilli/chilli powder.

Pour the cooked toor dhal base into the seasoned oil and mix well. Simmer gently over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

To finish, pour in the coconut milk, add the palm sugar or jaggery and kale. Simmer gently for 10 minutes to allow the kale to soften.

Meanwhile, toast the coconut chips in a hot, dry frying pan or skillet for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until crisp and toasted.

Divide the dhal into serving bowls and top each one with toasted coconut chips. Serve on its own or with cooked rice or naan breads. Here, sweet, nutty coconut milk is added to the toor dhal base alongside the spiced seasoned oil. Super-healthy kale and coconut chips bring an extra dimension of texture.

Place the chilli and soya bean pastes into a large bowl and mix together. Add the cubed pork and stir well to coat all the pieces. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes. (The pork can also be marinated the day before for even greater depth of flavour).

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the sliced onions and begin to stir fry until the onions start to colour. Turn down the heat and cook gently until golden brown, this will take about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Spoon the onions into your crockpot bowl, add the marinated pork, kimchee, spring onions, sliced mushrooms and 100ml of water. Stir well, covering with the lid.

Adjust the hour and minutes you would like your food to be ready for, then press the flashing start button to begin cooking – this dish will be fine between 6-12 hours.

When you’re ready to eat, serve alongside some steamed rice and garnish with a drizzle of soy sauce, red pepper flakes and some extra kimchee on the side.

Place all the ingredients into the slow-cooker and stir well, covering with the lid.

Adjust the hour and minutes you would like your food to be ready for, then press the flashing start button to begin cooking – this dish will be fine between 6-12 hours.

Serve with a selection of the above serving suggestions.