I have been craving this Broccoli Dal lately. The first time I made it, I literally ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Seriously! There is something about Indian spices that not only makes me feel comforted, but makes me feel satisified after eating something made with them. This dal is perfect for the cooler temps and it is super simple to throw together!
The toughest part of making this dal is literally chopping the broccoli and dicing the onion! The recipe comes from Lauren Ulm's Vegan Yum Yum cookbook. One instruction I would give you that isn't in the book is to rinse the lentils. Red tend to be really cloudy and you want to rinse and stir them in a colander under cold running water until the water runs clear. Otherwise, your dal may turn mucky.
What did Grumpy think? He actually liked it. Not like it enough to eat for 3 meals a day like me, but he liked it! 
; I was very surprised because he is usually very anti Mexican and Indian food! Let me know what you thought!
Broccoli Dal
recipe adapted from Vegan Yum Yum
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon mustard seed (I use black)
1 teaspoon cumin seed
½ chopped onion
½ cup well rinsed red lentils, drained
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped broccoli (stalks and florets)
2 cups water
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 cup almond milk
Cayenne pepper (optional) to taste
Saute mustard seed, cumin seed, red lentils and onions until seeds pop and lentils begin to turn color. Be careful not to burn. Add water, broccoli and salt and simmer for about 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed and broccoli and lentils are tender.
Stir in garam masala, tumeric, lemon juice, soy sauce and milk. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Cook until soup begins to steam again but do not boil. Add more salt as needed, sprinkle with cayenne (optional). Serve & enjoy!
Shelby
Irene (BTW, one of my dad's twin sisters is named Irene!), glad you both enjoyed this soup. Its really great to have when you feel like eating warm and cozy AND light!
Irene
Thanks! It turned out great! And my husband absolutely loved it(although he loves indian food, so he was easy to please!). We are always looking for new no-meat recipes that still have a lot of protein. This will be a great addition to my list!
Shelby
Hello Irene - thanks for letting me know - and guess what? You guessed right on the amount. I got right up and grabbed the cookbook and she says 2 cups water! I really hope you enjoy! I know I love this one very much!
Irene
Ahh!! I just found your blog this week and was really excited to make this soup. I have all the ingredients and was just checking over the recipe before making it and I realized you don't say how much water to put in!!! I am going to try 2 cups and hopefully it still turns out. Please fix this for any other unsuspecting readers!! Thanks
Leslie
this look like the perfect soup to warm my belly
Shelby
Kim, I think regular milk will work fine. You can try the regular lentils but I definitely think you should try the red ones sometime! 😉
Kim
Ok I don't have mustard seed, or almond milk - will reg milk work? Also, I only have green lentils - think they would be ok?
Was planning to make frog (aka brocolli) soup tomorrow but may just make my variation of this instead 🙂
pigpigscorner
I always crave for spicy food! So comforting!
Cheryl
I am fairly afraid of Indian food, but it sure looks pretty 🙂
Lori
I will try it Shelby! It looks awesome.
bellini valli
This has the Grumpy seal of approval:D
Pegasuslegend
What a change of pace, never saw anything like these ingredients with broccoli, sounds actually comforting and tasty! perfect for the christmas table in green with red on top!