Vegan    &&    Very low fat    &&    Grain-free

I think I could eat some form of dal for at least one meal every day. Actually, I probably do. I’ve even been known to eat it for breakfast. (Really, why *not* eat it for breakfast?) Even now that the weather is starting to warm up here, there’s still nothing (well, almost nothing) more comforting and appealing to me food-wise than having a hot bowl of dal with some roasted potatoes and green veggies scattered on top. (Especially broccoli. Why am I obsessed with broccoli??) There are so many variations of dal and lentil soup recipes, and any simple roasted or boiled veggie makes a great topping, so it’s easy to change things up and keep these kinds of recipes interesting. I’m sure I’ll be posting more like this in the future.

This is a complete meal in a bowl that is vegan, filling, healthy, and above all tastes amazing. I had this for dinner last night, and actually opted for seconds instead of dessert (dessert for cyborgs is greek yogurt with seasonal fresh fruit on top… hard to beat, even if ice cream weren’t off limits.)

I think I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, my absolute favorite place to get dal and other Indian groceries is Indian Sweets & Spices in Shoreline, Washington, just about a 20 minute drive north of Seattle. They have a great selection of organic dals, organic besan (chickpea) flour, organic spices, and plenty of non-organic everything else (including the best fresh curry leaves I’ve been able to find in the greater Seattle area, including the International District). You can also get organic dals and ingredients from Amazon of course, but I find everything costs at least twice as much on Amazon (even with free shipping) as it does at Indian Sweets & Spices, or any local international grocery store I’ve been to. So, particularly in this case, it really helps your community AND helps you to save a bunch money if you can shop local, wherever that may be.

(NOTE: This post is not sponsored, nor is any other post sponsored; all of the opinions expressed are solely mine. I feel strongly about what I like, and want to encourage people to use good quality ingredients and support their local economies whenever possible.)

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Surati Toor Dal with Broccoli and Roast Potatoes

About 45 minutes start to finish

Serves 4 as a complete meal

Bits:

For the dal:

• 1 ¾ cups toor dal + ½ cup mung dal (or use all toor dal, or all red lentils, depending on what you have)
• 3 ½ cups vegetable broth (I use Imagine Vegetarian No-Chicken Broth)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 large or 3 medium roasted red peppers from a jar
• 1 jalapeño (or other preferred chili)
• 1″ finger of fresh ginger (~ 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp after mincing)
• 20 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter powder, reconstituted with 3 Tbsp water (Anthony’s is my favorite)
• 1 tsp jaggery (a.k.a. gur) (or 1 tsp honey or maple syrup)
• 1 ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp asafoetida (a.k.a. hing) **See note below.
• 1/2 to 1 tsp dried red chili flakes, depending on desired spiciness

For the veggies:

• 3 to 4 medium potatoes (I use yukon gold or red potatoes, as they’re less mealy than russets), cut into ¾-inch cubes
• ~ 1 tsp olive oil (optional, use a good drizzle more if you’re not fat-intolerant)
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 heads of broccoli

Algorithm:

• Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Start the dal:
  • Put the dal into a medium-sized deep mixing bowl and fill the bowl with water to the top. Skim off / pour out the foam and then strain the dal into a fine-mesh sieve. Repeat 3 or 4 more times until the rinsing water is just about clear.
  • Tip the dal into a large sauce-pan or stock pot. Add the vegetable broth and 3 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil. Skim off as much froth as you can, then add the turmeric powder.
  • Turn the heat down to a vigorous simmer, cover partially, and leave to simmer. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
• Make the potatoes:
  • Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil, add the cubed potatoes, and boil for 1 minute.
  • Drain the water from the pan, and spread the potatoes on the parchment-lined baking sheet (rinse out the pan and set aside for now. Sprinkle the olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle over the salt. Toss it all together to coat the potatoes as evenly as possible, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
• Add ingredients to the dal:
  • Cut the roasted red peppers into small dice, and stir into the dal.
  • Mince the jalapeño and fresh ginger and stir into the dal.
  • Roughly chop the fresh curry leaves and stir into the dal.
  • Stir in the reconstituted peanut butter powder and jaggery (or sweetener of choice)
  • Check the dal and add more water about a ½ cup at a time if the dal hasn’t started to fully fall apart and it’s starting to look a little dry.
• Make the broccoli:
  • Fill the pot the potatoes cooked in with water and bring to a boil. While it’s coming to a boil, cut the broccoli tops into small florets and the stems into bite-sized (about ¾”) chunks.
  • When the water is boiling, drop in the broccoli and boil for 4 minutes until easily pierced with a fork.
  • Strain out the water, and refresh in cold water to stop them cooking.
• Finish the dal:
  • When the dal is done cooking (after about 30 minutes, when the lentils are falling apart), put the heat on low and stir in the salt and lemon juice.
  • Put a small frying pan on over medium heat and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and dried chili flakes. When the seeds start to pop, tip them into the dal and stir through.
• Add dal to each serving bowl and top with broccoli and potatoes. Enjoy!

Leftovers keep in the fridge for a week; dal can be frozen in an air-tight container for several months.

**Note: Asafoetida is another one of those ingredients that is helps make Indian dishes taste authentic and amazing, and it’s really tough to find a good substitute for. If you’re gluten-free, you have to watch out because it’s often mixed with wheat to help with processing it into a powder. A couple brands I’ve seen use fenugreek (and other fillers) to help with the processing, which makes it gluten-free, but you lose some of the intended flavor, and get a bunch of fenugreek instead… which is probably not bad, but I can’t imagine it’s quite as good. It can be tough to find, but pure asafoetida is naturally grain-free (and therefore gluten-free), and of course will have undiluted flavor. I’ve searched high and low for pure asafoetida powder, and Nature’n’Me is the best I’ve found so far (but sadly I’ve had to feed the monster to get it). If you really have to, you can try substituting ½ tsp garlic powder and ½ tsp onion granules instead.