Chana Dal Recipe
An easy 30-minute recipe for a punchy chana or split yellow gram dal that derives it sharp flavor from a rich spice blend and tamarind sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup chana dal (split yellow gram) soaked overnight and drained
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoon crushed ginger
- 2 tablespoon tamarind paste homemade or store bought, see notes
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ yellow onion sliced in half rings
Tadka
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4-6 dried red chilies
Garnish
- 3- inch ginger julienned
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Place the dal and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring it to boil.
- Add crushed ginger and garlic, tamarind paste, ground spices and salt. Lower heat and let the dal simmer on medium to medium-low heat uncovered for roughly 20-25 minutes. The dal should soften and the water boil out. Remove from heat.
- While the water is boiling, fry sliced onion in ¼ cup oil on medium-low heat for about 10 – 12 minutes until it’s a deep even brown. Drain on paper towel.
- When the dal is ready, heat 2 tablespoon of oil, and fry 4-6 dried red chilies for a few seconds.
- Place the dal in serving dish, top with caramelized onions, fried chilies and oil (tadka), and freshly cut ginger and cilantro. Serve with roti/chapati or naan.
Notes
For this recipe, I used a store-bought tamarind paste. If you want to make it at home, soak a walnut-sized tamarind pulp in warm water. Using your fingers or a spoon, deseed the tamarind pulp and press it to extract the juice out of the tamarind. Strain it and add the tamarind water to the saucepan along with the rest of the ingredients.