Dishoom's 24-hour black dal, or a speedier version of it. Delicious, so hearty.

https://iamafoodblog.com/dishooms-black-dal-and-garlic-naan/

I've made a full 24- hour version once and am considering again for thanksgiving. Everyone loved it last time and people were going back for seconds of it more often than seconds of turkey.

Lentils a La Dijonnaise

300 grams green lentils (10 oz)

1 litre water (4 cups)

1 carrot

1 onion

2 cloves

4 cloves garlic

150 grams of smoked pork belly (5 oz)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Thyme

salt and pepper to season

Prepare onion by cutting in half and impaling w/ cloves

Peel garlic

Rince lentils, add to pot w/ 900ml water, bring to boil

Skim the watter, add carrots, oninons, garlic,cloves, and pork.

Reduce to low, cover

Add salt after > 20 min cooking

Total simmer 40min

remove onions, garlic, and pork. Mix some hot water w/ the mustard to dilute, then add back to beans

serve with butter, pork, or brown mustard.

This is a recipe that I have saved from one of the now defunct myrecipe publications. It's no longer available on the web due to the closure / sale of the company.

Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 (6 ounces) baking potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

1 (8 ounces) rounded cup red lentils

1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock or broth

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation Steps

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderately high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add the potato, lentils and stock; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, 40 minutes. Puree the soup in batches and return it to the saucepan. Add the cumin, cayenne and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Also, sorry about the freedumb units.

1. Obtain lentils. Preferably red, as those cook nicely down into a smooth, thick broth, but I've done black, green, red, yellow...

2. Put lentils in slow cooker.

3. Get other stuff. Pretty much anything that's lying around. Meat, vegetables, whatever. Put that in.

4. Add spices. Pretty much whatever. I do think that something that adds umami somewhere in there is good, fish sauce or MSG or something is nice.

5. Push start button.

Good for cold evenings.

Seriously, though, I think that soup in general is pretty permissive of experimentation.