Chana Dal Recipe

This chana dal recipe involves cooking chana dal in a pressure cooker with the basic spices and frying it in a pan with onion, tomato, green chili, and ginger. Its taste is sweet, spicy, and savory. This chana dal is good to eat with basmati rice or soft chapati. It is one of the most flavorful and yummiest lentils to taste.

About Chana Dal:-

Chana dal is also known as Bengal gram. It is made by splitting black chickpeas (kala chana) into their halves without their skin. There is another white chickpea (Kabuli chana). But these kala chana are common chickpeas that are eaten in many ways like dry kala chana, and kala chana sabzi.

Chana dal is cooked in a pressure cooker with basic spices and then fried in a pan with onion, garlic, tomato, ginger, green chili, and garnished with coriander leaves. This chana dal is a flavorful recipe if served with steamed fluffy basmati rice, soft chapati, or naan.

In India, there is no house where the lentils are not made whether it is urad dal, moong dal, or toor dal. But Chana Dal has more flavorful and delicious lentils itself. In our home, the urad dal has the most loved lentils and no one can say no to urad dal. They can eat it every day without saying no. But chana dal also has space in my home for its deliciousness.

Ingredients:–

Chana dal: I use whole chana dal for this recipe because I like it whole chana dal. But if you make a little different taste of your dal then add another alternative like moong dal, split masoor dal, or toor dal.

Onion and garlic: I use one medium chopped onion and 3-4 garlic cloves.

Tomato and ginger: I use two medium tomatoes and 1 inch of ginger. Grind them together or you can grate them with a grater to add more flavor to your dal.

Green chili: I used two chopped green chili because I like the taste of it. But if you don’t like green chili them replace it with red chili powder.

Spices: I use only some basic spices here like turmeric powder, garam masala powder, or aesfoetida. Use good quality of spices.

Coriander leaves: I use chopped coriander leaves for garnishing for a more aromatic flavor. But if you don’t like then you can skip it.

Step-by-step guide

How to make chana dal:-

Soaking

1.First, take one cup of chana dal in a bowl.

2. Then rinse them in clear water twice or thrice. Soak them for 20-30 minutes and keep them aside.

Cooking

3. Add soaked chana dal in a pressure cooker on medium heat.

4. Then add 2.5 to 3 cups of water.

5. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/8 tsp asafoetida, and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well and cover the cooker lid. Cook the chana dal until 7 to 8 whistles or 10- 12 minutes on a medium heat.

6. When the pressure comes down naturally open the cooker lid. Then check if the chana dal becomes soft or mushy with the spoon. If not pressure cook again until they are softened.

Frying chana dal

7. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds and let them sizzle.

8. Then add chopped onion and garlic cloves. Stir and saute them until they are a little golden.

9. Now add tomato and ginger paste. Stir and continue to saute.

10. Add chopped green chili.

11. Then add cooked chana dal to the pan and cook dal for 5 to 6 minutes or until the dal has a thick consistency.

12. Now add 1/4 tsp garam masala powder. Mix well.

13. When the dal is thick in consistency. Add 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves.

14. Mix them well and serve hot or warm.

Serving Suggestion:-

Serve this chana dal hot with steamed fluffy rice, soft chapati, or naan.

If you want more lentils recipe then check: Sabut Urad Dal | Black Dal

Tips:-

Soaking is an essential key for making this chana dal recipe. Soaking lentils for at least 30 minutes makes them smooth and mushy. If you do not soak it will take longer time to cook.

After cooking if your chana dal is thick in consistency then add more water while simmering it.