Horse gram, broccoli, shitake soup

I have to admit, I have a soup thing
going on. I am eating some kind of soup everyday for lunch. Now, the great thing about soup, is that it is all encompassing. It works well as clear, thick, chunky, stew like, with noodles, with beans, with tofu... It is difficult to find anything more versatile than the humble soup,   almost every cuisine in the world has its own unique take on it. Moreover, every kind of vegetable has a soup dedicated to it - tomato soup, cream of spinach, beet borscht, mushroom, sweet corn etc.

The interesting ingredient of this soup is Horse gram, fairly well known in the south of India, this lentil is extremely rich in iron and protein. It also helps reduce insulin resistance and makes it a wonderful addition to help with diabetes.
















Ingredients

1/3 cup horse gram (soaked overnight)
1 tsp vegetable bouillon
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms (soaked in water)
1/2 red bell pepper cubed
1 tomato quartered
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic grated
a big piece of ginger grated (the size depends on your love for ginger)
2 cups water
2 tsp olive oil


Process

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few minutes and add the soaked and rinsed horse gram and the water. Let it boil for a few minutes. Now add all the chopped vegetables, the shitake and the water it was soaked in along with the bouillon. You don't need salt because the bouillon has some. Also if you can't get your hands on the bouillon, you could add vegetable stock or just a bay leaf and black cardamom at the point of sautéing the onion.
Let the soup heat up but not boil. Turn the heat off. This ensures that the veggies are not overcooked. Even the horse gram has a bite to it and is not over done.
Enjoy on a rainy afternoon!