This warm, well-spiced vegetable dal recipe is the perfect way to start a winter day—it’s deeply nourishing and helps prevent the cold from settling into your body.

I grew up eating cold cereal and milk for breakfast all year long. Since studying the wisdom of Ayurveda, I have learned that warm, easy to digest foods are the best winter breakfast. As the days grow colder and darker, your body starts to crave more insulating foods. Cold mornings call for replacing fruit and smoothies with warm, heartier breakfasts.

It is always a good idea to add lots of herbs and spices to heavier meals. These herbs and spices help keep your blood moving and to fight off the congestion that winter can bring on. Check out a few of the benefits of the healing plants in our vegetable dal recipe:

Cinnamon supports digestion of fats while increasing warmth and circulation
Cardamom clears congestion and mucus and helps relieve gas and indigestion
Clove is antibacterial, opens the sinuses, and resolves phlegm

Ginger increases circulation, expels mucus congestion, and reduces inflammation
Bay leaf is warming, activates your digestive capacity, and helps you absorb nutrients
Cumin supports digestion, assuages indigestion and heartburn, and eases coughs

Fenugreek soothes inflammation of the mucous membrane and regulates blood sugar
Turmeric enhances immunity, helps with digestion of fat and protein, and reduces inflammation
Coriander helps with all things digestive and has a synergistic effect in spice mixtures

Ready to dive into turning your spice rack into an effective home apothecary? Check out Herbal Kitchen Remedy Solutions

Print Recipe

Curried Vegetable Dal

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cinnamon stick
6 green cardamom pods, cracked open
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 bay leaves
1 tsp powdered cumin
1 tsp powdered fenugreek
1 tsp powdered turmeric
2 tbsp powdered coriander
2 cups vegetable or bone broth
1 cup red lentils
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 14-oz can of coconut milk

Instructions

Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
Add the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves and heat for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or until golden.
Add the ginger and the bay leaves and sauté for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and add the cumin, fenugreek, turmeric, and coriander. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the stock and the lentils and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.
Add the cauliflower, sweet potato, red pepper, and mushrooms and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer an additional 5 minutes, until the lentils are soft but not mushy.

I would love to hear from you! Do you have a go-to breakfast for the colder months? What do you think of the vegetable dal recipe? Please share in the comments below!