Chana dal
Chana dal/Split chickpea dal cooked with simple spices. This dal makes a great accompaniment with steaming hot rice. Serve it with rice or roti for a comforting meal.
Servings 4 people
Calories
Equipment
- A Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chana dal/Split chickpea dal/Gram Dal/Kadalai Paruppu
- 1 no Tomato
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Salt or to taste
- Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Tempering
- 1 teaspoon oil any vegetable oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 nos red chilies, broken i used round variety, long chilies can also be used
- ⅛ tsp hing/asafoetida
- a sprig of curry leaf
Instructions
- Soak chana dal in water for atleast an hour before you pressure cook them, it helps in easy cooking of the dal. I usually wash the dal twice in running water, then add fresh water to it and leave it soaked for an hour or two.
- Pressure cook the dal until soft, usually 4-5 whistles. The dal shouldn't turn mushy, It should hold the shape and when pressed should be well cooked.
- Heat oil given under 'Tempering' in a kadai. When the oil is hot, splutter mustard seeds, crackle cumin, add hing, curry leaves and broken red chilies.
- Next add minced garlic and chopped tomatoes. Add ¼ cup of water, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, for the tomatoes to become soft.
- Next add the cooked chana dal along with the water. Add salt to this and mix well. Once the dal starts to boil, using a potato masher or simply with the back of your ladle , try to mash a little dal to get a thicker consistency.
- Let it sit on the stove for 5-8 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and take it off the stove. Serve Hot with Rice or Roti.
- I made this dal along with some tomato-garlic rasam and bittergourd masala for my lunch and served with rice/quinoa.