Cholar dal (Bengali chana dal)
A simple yet soulful Bengali dal recipe, that can be paired with luchis for breakfast/brunch or had with rice and parathas for lunch or dinner!
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup chholar dal (chana dal) or Bengal gram soaked in water for 1.5 hours
- 1 tbsp ginger crushed
- 2 fresh chilis crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 dried red chilis
- 2-3 cloves
- 2-3 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin seed powder
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp hing asafoedita
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain the soaked dal
- And put it in a pressure cooker with 1½ cups of water, half of the salt and turmeric
- Cook until the dal is soft but still remains whole
- Heat a cooking pot with the mustard oil until it smokes. Then add all the whole spices, along with the hing
- When these turn aromatic, lower the flame and add the turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, crushed ginger and chilis, with ¼ cup water
- When the raw smell of the spices and ginger go away, add the boiled chana dal, salt to taste and the sugar. Also, add ½ cup of water
- Let this simmer on a medium low heat until you achieve a semi-thick consistency. Then turn the heat off and drizzle the ghee and garam masala
- Keep covered for five minutes and then serve the cholar dal or Bengali chana dal with rice or any Indian flatbreads of your choice. Enjoy!
Notes
- You may use ghee for cooking instead of the mustard oil too
- This cholar dal tastes best when more sweet than savoury. So, do not omit the sugar
- You can also add fried coconut slices in step 7, as well
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon