Chana Dal

Last night I de-frosted a North Indian Chicken curry which needed something extra to make a meal so I cooked chana dal.

Chana Dal, also spelt Channa Dal or Channa Dhall  is split yellow gram, a type of chick pea and makes a fantastic accompaniment to a meat curry or can be a nutritious vegetarian meal in its own right.

Enough for four as an accompaniment or two as the main dish

1 cup chana dal
1 onion chopped quite finely
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
1 tsp ground turmeric ( haldi)
1 tsp chilli powder or to taste
pinch asafoetida (hing) Optional
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp black mustard seed
1/2 tsp cumin seed (jeera)
1 tbsp ground nut oil

Pick over, wash and drain the dal. Put 3 cups of boiling water in a large pan and return to the boil then add the dal and boil for 5 minutes. Add the onion, dessicated coconut, chilli powder, turmeric and asafoetida. The asafoetida is reputed to reduce the flatulence content of pulses. Reduce the heat and simmer until the dal is soft, about 30 to 40 minutes, mix in the garam masala and salt to taste. I am told that you should not add the salt earlier or the dal will stay hard. Keep an eye on the pan towards the end of cooking and make sure that the dal does not catch on the bottom of the pan. 

Heat the ground nut oil in a small frying pan and add the mustard and cumin seeds. As soon as the seeds begin to pop, pour the contents of the frying pan into the dal and stir. Cook for a few more minutes then serve with rice, naan or chapattis.