How to make the most of a slow cooker | Kitchen aide

Piling in the ingredients and returning hours later to a cooked dinner is hugely appealing – and energy-efficient. But what to make? We ask the experts …

• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

I’ve just got a slow cooker. What good, flavourful dishes should I make in it?
Pete, Horsham, West Sussex
Put aside its cumbersome appearance and you’ll be hard pushed to deny the allure of the slow cooker: add your ingredients in the morning and, without supervision, you’ll have a meal ready and waiting come dinner time. “I love coming home when it’s cold and dark and the kitchen smells amazing,” says Guardian columnist and slow cooker fan Tamal Ray. “You can also use cheaper cuts of meat that tend to need more time and love to unleash their flavour slowly.” Slow cookers save on energy, too – according to research by energy supplier Utilita, slow cookers cost about 16p a day to run (electric ovens typically cost 87p) – so this is a win-win.

When cooking low and slow, Ray often turns to lamb on the bone. “It’s how my mum would do it,” he says. “Fry that with garlic, ginger and paprika, then throw in a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes, some soaked chickpeas [about 300g] and salt, and leave over the course of the day.” If he’s feeling fancy, Ray chars an aubergine over the flame on a gas hob, then, once it’s cool enough to handle, removes the skin, “chops up the flesh and adds that to the slow cooker towards the end. The smokiness is delicious.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

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