Bengali Style Lentils with Broccoli – Broccoli Diye Dal
This Bengali style lentils with Broccoli features on my table on cooler summer evenings. In summer, I mesh freshly picked chives and tender broccoli to create this. With ginger and a nice dose of lime juice the result is satisfying and wholesome. The former is delicate and has no bitterness. It melts beautifully into these lentils. Served with flatbreads or steamed rice this makes a simple and delicate meal. If you are lucky you can add in some broccoli leaves as well. Generally speaking though any fresh vegetables will work well in this bright lentil dish. Garlic chives, if you can find them are better than the regular chives. They offer a richer flavor.
The Story of the Bengali Style Lentils
Chances are if my husband was reading this post, he would like to highlight the broccoli. Like all gardeners he is proud of our backyard produce. This recipe uses home grown broccoli in season. I use two kinds of lentils for this dish, yellow moong lentils and red lentils. Combining the two lentils offers a nuttier taste and thicker consistency.
To extract maximum flavor from the lentils I toast them until fragrant and then proceed with the cooking. The lentils are cooked until soft, and then the broccoli is added in. The result is tender but not mushy broccoli. In early fall I make these lentils and serve them with Bengali Mashed Potatoes.
Getting Mom with the Hudson Valley Garden
This year, I have truly been thrilled to see how enthusiastically, mom has been relishing my crazy forays in the kitchen. I am still struggling to get her on the broccoli bandwagon. She is very selective with her veggies. So I got away easy in terms of eating my veggies as a kid. However, I realize the error of my ways these older years. I have come a long way in terms of balancing what I eat and what we cook.
About the Bengali Style Lentils
In this dish the broccoli is simmered until tender soft. Simmering in pools of the thick and buttery soft lentils laced with gentle kisses of spices. These lentils get two layers of seasoning with the traditional tempering of golden crisp onions and some nigella seeds and crushed red pepper flakes. This concoction is what got my mother to warm up to broccoli.
Buttery lentils, soft and flavorful broccoli and delicate bits of caramelized red onion. What do you expect a mother to do? A few bites later she declared, “onekta kopir moto (a lot like cauliflower)”. Considering that the mild mannered cauliflower is a family favorite, I believe this is a winner.
As a general note if you want to get someone to like something start with familiar flavors. Staying simple helps.
f you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot Facebook group and Legume Love Group. Of course Instant Indian my new Indian Instant Pot Cookbook is ready for order, joining its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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A comforting creation with red lentils garden fresh tender broccoli seasoned with hints of ginger, cumin and caramelized onions.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup moong lentils
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 2 cups of water or 3 if using the stove top
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon red cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 tomatoe, coarsely chopped
- 11/2 teaspoons powdered cumin
- ½ pound of tender broccoli florets
- 1 small red onion
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 green chilies, slit
- 1 lime, halved
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic or regular chives (optional)
Instructions
- Start the instant pot on sauté mode and add the lentils and cook until fragrant and toasty. About 6 minutes. Add in the water, in the water, turmeric, salt, ginger and cumin and cook under pressure for 4 minutes Release the pressure after 5 minutes.
- Alternately place the lentils in a heavy bottomed pot and cover simmer the lentils until soft and smooth. This takes about 25 minutes and needs to be stirred occasionally.
- While this is cooking cut the broccoli into small pieces, tender stems can be chopped into smaller pieces along with the florets.
- Add to the lentils and simmer for another 7 minutes, until the broccoli is tender crisp.
- While the broccoli is cooking, peel the onion and cut into a fine dice.
- Heat the oil in a small pan and add the onion and cook the onion on medium high heat until the onion is nice and golden, this will take about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add in the green chilies and mix this into the lentils and simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Squeeze in the lime juice and sprinkle with the chives if using.