Curried broccoli dal
The beginning of autumn means comfort food! Food that serves both to make me less depressed about the end of the summer, and to warm me up when it’s miserable outside (this morning it genuinely looked like a scene from a horror movie outside with all the mist). And what’s more comforting than a big bowlful of warm curry? (especially if you eat it on your lap on the sofa…)
This curried broccoli dal contains an entire head of broccoli, but it’s all blitzed up into the lentils, so you get all the nutrients without feeling like you’re eating a bowl that’s just full of veg. Comfort, but with the satisfaction of knowing that you’re being pretty healthy too – the best combination!
The broccoli looks so pretty when it’s all blitzed up…
…and even prettier when it’s mixed in with the lentils…
…and although it looks somewhat less attractive when it’s cooked (sorry about that), it does taste pretty amazing, so hopefully you’ll let me off that one. You only need a bit of curry powder and some garam masala to give it that amazing curried flavour. You could add some cumin or turmeric too if you like, but I wanted to keep mine fairly mild.
I served my broccoli dal with some brown rice, but I think a chunk of naan bread would be even better – perfect for mopping up the bowl afterwards. You can use this dal recipe either as a side dish or as a vegan main course – it’s delicious and versatile. Have I managed to convince you to look past its appearance yet…? How about if I tell you that it’s super cheap too?
Curried broccoli dal
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 200 g broccoli one medium head
- 150 g dried red lentils
- 650 ml vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- Black pepper
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the onion and garlic. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are fairly soft.
- Meanwhile, add the broccoli to a food processor, and blitz until no large chunks remain.
- When the onion is soft, add the processed broccoli and lentils to the pan, along with the stock and spices. Mix well, and bring to a simmer. Cook gently, stirring regularly, until the lentils are cooked and the mixture is at your desired consistency - around 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with rice or naan bread.
Best ever comfort food!!
Thank you!
I have just made this and it has turned out well and tastes good. I used 500ml veg stock and a couple of extra garlic cloves, plus quarter teaspoon of my favourite curry paste. Didn’t much care for the smell at first, but once cooked it is delicious. I made the full amount so plenty left for another day.
Thanks Shirley, glad you enjoyed it in the end! :)
I don’t have much experience cooking with lentils – would you used dried lentils for this, or already cooked, or canned? Thank you!
You can just use dried lentils – I’ll edit the post to make it clear :) Dried lentils are really easy to cook with because they don’t need pre-soaking, and they cook pretty quickly – much easier than dried beans! ;)
(plus with dried lentils, you can keep the rest of the packet in the cupboard and they’ll keep forever!)
What a fun recipe! We sauteed the blitzed broccoli with the onion, garlic and spices in the pan with a little coconut oil and cooked the lentils in the broth. Then mixed together. Very tasty…thanks!
Sounds great! Thanks for your comment Nina :)
I have spent the last hour or so going through your recipes and planning to cook so many.
Look great
Thanks so much, glad you like my recipes :)
One of the woes of food blogging – sometimes your curry/soup/stew just turns out in shades of brown, which isn’t ideal to photograph!
It sounds delicious though!
These looks delicious! i never considered this combo! thank you so much!
You have to love simple yet delicious dals! My favorite part is that the messiest, least photogenic food always tastes the best. It’s just the nature of comfort food! :)
I remember when the girls were little and started eating broccoli I used to make a variation of this for them. It’s perfect for this kind of weather though naughtily I would put lashings of ghee on top!
Just the kind of dish I make for my veggie daughter. Love that it’s packed with broccoli – the red lentils are quick to cook too.
That sounds amazing and I think it looks pretty fantastic considering how tricky dals can be to photograph!
Sometimes the ugly foods are the tastiest ;)
looks like another yummy dish from your wonderful hands. Great for both vegan and vegetarians. Once again many thanks for recipies.
This looks like it would be so delicious and comforting! What a great way to ease into Autumn. I can’t wait to try this out (hopefully very soon)!
This looks delicious!!! And so eeeasy. Definitely going to give it a go for a lazy night supper :) xx
What a great idea to blitz the broccoli up Becca.
I love dal and will be trying this one. It is such a perfect winter warmer.