Weekend Cooking: From Slow to Fast: A Warming Split Pea Curry

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When this week's cold, snowy days had me craving something bright, yet warming, curry was one of the first things that came to mind. I've been crazy busy with work, so my second thought was to use the slow cooker.

I looked through some cookbooks and realized that with a few minor changes I could make a recipe for lentil stew (found in American Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook) work for us. I had baked bread the night before and was looking forward to my nice dinner.

That is until I realized at about 5:00 pm that I had forgotten to start the curry at lunchtime. What's a resourceful cook to do? I turned that curry from a slow-cooked stew into a quick-cooked soup in the blink of an eye and a switch in equipment. Have I told you lately how much I love my pressure cooker? Within about an hour, we were sitting down to a delicious, aromatic, healthful dinner.

Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup
(adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution)
Serves 4–6

• 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with the juice
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2¼ cups yellow split peas (about 1 pound), picked over and rinsed
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Hot sauce (optional)

Put the broth, coconut milk, and tomatoes into your pressure cooker over high heat. Add the onions, garlic, spices, split peas, and carrots. Stir in the the oil (needed to prevent foaming in the cooker). Lock on the lid and let come to high pressure. Cook 10 minutes at high pressure, remove from the heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Open the lid carefully (tilt it away from you so you don't get burned) and return the cooker to medium heat. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Add the frozen green peas and cilantro and cook until the peas are just heated through. Serve with hot sauce (we like Sriracha) and homemade bread.

Cooking tips: Try this in your slow cooker or on the stovetop in a regular soup pot.