Broccoli Zunka Recipe – Broccoli & Bell Pepper with Spices, Chickpea flour. Broccoli Subzi Indian Veggie Side Recipe. Use spices of choice. Serve with Dals, or over Toast or in Tacos. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free. Pin this post.
By now we all know about my hide and seek relationship with broccoli. I am not a big fan so it needs to not be a huge tree in my food. So, I shred and stuff it in a flatbread, make it into a creamy slaw soup, make it into veggie balls, or into a burger patty and like broccoli in some ways. This is another great way to enjoy said vegetable. All spiced up and hidden in a toasty nutty chickpea flour coating (zunka)! The traditional Zunka recipe uses just chickpea flour or chickpea flour and peppers. Broccoli fits in really well in a zunka. It comes together easily and is a versatile and flavorful side.
The chickpea flour is toasted. Then the spices tempered in hot oil, broccoli and peppers and cooked to just about done, some spices are mixed into the chickpea flour and then added to the pan. A sprinkle of water ensures that everything sticks to all the veggies. Garnished with lemon and served hot. The dish feels somewhat like a chickpea flour scramble, but has a lot more veggies and less chickpea flour. Serve this delicious Broccoli Zunka with Dals or curries as a side, or fill up Tacos/Rotis, serve over Toast (which is amazing) with slices radish or cucumber or as breakfast scramble.
More chickpea flour recipes
- Broccolini White Bean Chickpea flour Frittata GF SF
- Fluffy Chickpea flour omelet /pancake GF SF
- Chickpea flour scramble GF SF
- Chilla / Pudla – Thin Chickpea flour pancakes with Indian spices GF SF
- Chickpea flour tofu – GF SF
Broccoli Zunka Recipe - Broccoli & Bell Pepper with Spices, Chickpea flour
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60 g) chickpea flour or gram flour besan
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) or more cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup (80 g) onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 green chile finely chopped (optional)
- 1/2 (0.5 ) green bell pepper
- 1/2 (0.5 ) red bell pepper
- 1.5 to 2 cups (108 to 144 g) chopped broccoli small pieces
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) turmeric powder
- 1/4-1/2 tsp (1/4 to 1/2 tsp) cayenne red chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) fennel seeds
- lemon juice and chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Dry roast the chickpea flour in a skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until toasty. (Stir occasionally to avoid burning) . Keep aside. I usually transfer the flour to a bowl and use the same skillet for the next step.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. when hot, add cumin seeds and roast them until they change color. 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add onion, garlic, green chile and cook for 3 mins or until the garlic is translucent. Add peppers and mix and cook for 2 minutes. Add broccoli and a generous pinch of salt and mix in. Add a good splash of water, mix well, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until broccoli is cooked to al dente.
- Mix the spices and salt into the roasted chickpea flour and add to the skillet. Mix well. Cover and cook a minute. .
- Sprinkle 2 to 3 tbsp of water and mix in. Add water as needed so there is no dry flour and the flour clumps up around all the broccoli and vegetables. Cover and cook for 3 or more minutes.
- Garnish wiih cilantro and dash of lemon. Serve with dals as a side, or fill up tacos/rotis or serve over toast with slices radish or cucumber or as breakfast scramble.
Andrea
Loved this recipe!,
Swati
I made this with broccoli and potato since my kid hates bell peppers (I cooked the diced potato halfway in the skillet before adding the broccoli). It was SO GOOD! Totally worth the extra time I spent to roast the besan just before making this. I will be making it again. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Richa
awesome!
Guillaume
Tasty and quick to make!
Everybody loved it, thank you!
Ro
Made this last night and it came out delicious. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Richa
Awesome! thanks
Erin M
OMG this one is AMAZING! My kid and I were fighting over it! Thank you!!!
Richa
thats perfect!
Vrinda
I like your Zunja technique of roasting the flour first. Never thought to make zunka with broccoli – that was creative. The lemon juice at the end elevates the dish.
Turned out really great.
I enjoy recipes like this which are reasonably simple to prepare and yield a high taste to effort ratio. Thank you, Richa.
Richa
Awesome! Glad you loved it!
Pongodhall
Brilliant, just got my fresh batch fennel and cumin seeds via someone who went to England! I love the poha your father likes, and I love broccoli so I’m ready to go this w/e inbetween tennis, thank,you for all these lovely recipes.
Pooja
Hi Richa
Tried the recipe for dinner…yummy it was..looks like I’m going to make this often to bring broccoli in my list of veggies!
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Pooja
Heather
This was delicious! I don’t like broccoli much, but this will definitely help me eat more.
Richa
Awesome!
Eves
We just had this for dinner, it was lovely – thank you for posting.
Richa
Awesome!
Adhiktam Kunj
Delicious recipe and very clearly explained as all of your recipes. I just prepared it and finished eating it and loved it! Thank you! Just one question about the name: shouldn’t it be झुणका, i.e. jhunka in transcription, instead of Zunka? Thank you!
Richa
Great! Either work in terms of English translation. I usually look at google search terms to decide the title and zunka is searched for more than jhunka probably because phonetically jh is harder to pronounce or remember.
IR
I love broccoli! Blanching it for less than a minute helps break it down a little and it absorbs more flavor.
I’m sorry you had to torture yourself to post this for us!
Richa
nah. i ate a decent amount of the zunka and liked it too!
AJ Paradis
This looks great … can’t wait to try this one!
Tyera
How much of cumin seeds do you recommend? That appears to be missing from this recipe.
Looks delicious, thank you!
Richa
updated. 1/3 to 1/2 tsp
Valerie
That is gluten and wheat free. Valerie.
Richa
Chickpea flour is gluten-free and wheat-free. You can use lentil flour
Valerie
What flour option can I use instead of chick pea. Valerie.
Corrine
Looks great, and I love broccoli. Just ordered your book after discovering this great site.