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Chana Dal
Chana Dal is an easy healthy Indian lentil dish made with split chickpeas, onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, herbs, and spices. It is vegan gluten-free, and so easy to make in Instant Pot, Pressure cooker or on stove top. This Punabji Chana dal recipe pairs perfectly with roti, naan, or jeera rice and makes a nutritious, protein-packed, hearty, and comforting meal.
Equipment
- Instant Pot or
Ingredients
For Chana Dal Tempering
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida hing
- 2 dry red chilli broken
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced, 1 inch ginger piece
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced, 4-5 garlic pods
- 1-2 green chili finely chopped
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 2 medium roma tomatoes finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ -1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder or adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mango powder amchur Or lemon juice to taste
- ½ teaspoon Punjabi garam masala
- 1 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves kasuri methi
- 1-2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste to taste
Instructions
Prep Work
- Rinse split chickpeas 3-4 times until the water runs clear. Soak for 30 mins in hot water.
- Transfer the rinsed and soaked dal to an Instant Pot stainless steel insert, or stovetop pressure cooker with 3 cups of water, turmeric, black cardamom, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix and close the lid.
- In Instant Pot, cook with vent sealing on manual (pressure cook) high for 15 mins followed by natural pressure release.For the stovetop pressure cooker, cook on medium heat for 4-5 whistles. Let steam release naturally. This can vary depending on the quality of the dal and the brand of the pressure cooker.
- When the pressure comes down (pin drops) open the lid. Check if the dal is cooked. It should be soft and mushy and you should be able to easily mash the dal with your spoon or between the thumb and finger.If it's undercooked, pressure cook again until the lentils are nicely cooked and soft.
- Using a whisk, lightly mash the dal (don't mash it completely. You should still see some whole dal).
To Make Chana Dal
- Heat oil/ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida (hing), and dried red chili, and saute for a few seconds.
- Add ginger garlic and green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the raw garlic smell goes away.
- Stir in the onions, and salt, and mix well. Cook till the onions are soft and golden brown in color.
- Next add the spices - turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, dry mango (amchur) powder, and Punjabi garam masala, and saute for a few seconds.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, mix well, cover, and cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy (approximately 5 mins).Mix and mash tomatoes until oil oozes from the side of the masala.
- Stir in the cooked dal and mix until well combined and bring it to a simmer Adjust the dal consistency to your liking by adding ½ cup water (or more).
- Crush Kasuri Methi between your palms and add it to the dal.
- Simmer for another 5-6 mins on low-medium heat.
- Finally add some chopped cilantro. Mix well. Turn off the heat. Delicious chana dal is ready!
- Serve Chana Dal hot topped with some ghee with some rice, roti, or naan.
Instant Pot Chana Dal
- Press the saute button on instant pot and heat ghee and oil it in.
- Once hot, add the cumin seeds, black cardamom, asafoetida (hing), and dried red chili, and saute for a few seconds.
- Add ginger garlic and green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the raw garlic smell goes away.
- Stir in the onions, and salt, and mix well. Cook till the onions are soft and golden brown in color.
- Next add the spices - turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, dry mango (amchur) powder, and Punjabi garam masala, and saute for a few seconds. If needed deglaze the pan with 1-2 tablespoons water to prevent the masala from burning.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, mix well, and cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Stir in the rinsed and soaked dal, 3 cups of water, and salt in the Instant Pot. Mix well and deglaze.
- If you are doing pot in pot rice, add a trivet inside the instant pot and place the rice bowl on the trivet. Cover the bowl (optional).
- Close the lid, move vent to sealing position and press manual (pressure cook) high for 15 mins followed by natural release.
- Once the pin drops, open the lid, remove the rice container and keep it aside.
- Start Instant pot back on saute mode, mash the chana dal to your liking. Add water (if required) to adjust the consistency.
- Bring dal to a simmer and add kasuri methi, and cilantro and mix well. Instant Pot Chana dal is ready!
- Serve Chana Dal hot topped with some ghee with some rice, roti, or naan.
Video
Notes
Cooking chana dal in a pot (without a pressure cooker) - Rinse and soak the dal for 30-60 mins in hot water. This will help the lentils cook faster. Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil and then add the dal to it and cook until soft and mushy. If required add more hot water. Skim off any froth that is formed. Once the dal is cooked and soft add to the onion tomato masala (tempering).
Dal quality - Use good quality, freshly stocked lentils since age-old lentils will take more time and water to cook.
Soaking dal - this dal takes longer to cook compared to other lentils like Toor dal, moong dal, and masoor dal so to speed up the process, soak split chickpeas for 30mins in hot water before cooking. Soaking softens the dal and helps it cook faster.
Chana dal foams - After cooking the dal (especially on its own) you may notice foam on the surface. Simply remove it using a spoon or spatula.
Dal tastes best when cooked in ghee - but to keep it vegan replace ghee with the oil of your choice.
Add veggies - to make it even more nutritious add veggies like carrots, zucchini, bottle gourd, and green leafy vegetables like spinach or fenugreek leaves to this dal.
Adjust spices to your preference by adding more red chili powder or green chilies or reducing it to make it less spicy.
Dal consistency - This dal thickens over time so adjust the consistency with water and taste for seasoning.
For gluten-free dal, skip hing (asafoetida).
Restaurant-style Chana Dal - For that restaurant-style taste, you can add a garlic ghee tadka (tempering) at the end and also smoke the dal using the dungar method. For day-to-day cooking, I skip these.
For Garlic Tadka (tempering) - optional:
- Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a small pan on medium heat. Stir in chopped garlic (2 cloves) and saute until garlic for a minute or so. Turn off the heat, and add ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (or adjust to taste). Give it a quick mix. Pour this tempering over the served dal.
- Using tongs place a small piece of charcoal on the flame until it is red hot, turning occasionally so all sides are evenly hot. Place the hot coal piece into a small stainless steel bowl (that would fit inside the pot) and place the bowl on a trivet inside the pot.
- Add ½ teaspoon of oil/ghee over the charcoal. You will see it immediately starts to smoke. Cover and keep it closed for 1-2 minutes to infuse the smoky flavor to the dal. Keeping it for too long may lead to excessive smoky flavor so make sure not to exceed more than a min or two.
- Remove the bowl and mix. Smoky restaurant-style chana dal is ready to be served
Nutrition
Calories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 933mg | Potassium: 177mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 442IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 3mg
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