Chana Dal
This is a lentil dish for beginners with little process and just a few of your everyday spices.
These lentils are sweet and nutty and come from black chickpeas that are split and the outer cover is removed. There are different ways to make this dish, with this one being northern Indian inspired.
My grandma made this without the tinned tomatoes so hers would have been more traditionally yellow in colour. I like the addition here of the tomatoes as it combines my Italian and Indian family roots and makes the dish a little more tart, to be served with rice or pasta
This dish is natural and healthy, gluten, dairy free and full of herbs and spices that have multitudes of health benefits. It is also high in protein and low calorie
Mr B and I took great pleasure eating this on a snowy day, sitting in our home near the window and pretending we were in our own snow globe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal
- 3 cups water
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli (optional)
- ½ tsp. cumin
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. coriander powder
- ½ tsp. garam masala
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil
- Salt to taste
- Coriander/cilantro to serve
Method
- Pick and rinse the chana dal well in running water
- Soak the dal in water for an hour
- Drain the lentils, add to the pot with the water and turmeric and bring to the boil
- Boil until the lentils are soft, skimming any white foam off the top as you go
- In a frying pan, heat the oil
- Add the cumin first and fry for a few seconds
- Add the garlic and fry for 20 seconds
- Add the onions and fry for another 30 seconds
- Add the tomatoes, ginger and green chilli
- Stir and add all the dry spices, stir
- Once thoroughly combined, add to the lentils
- Simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to combine
- Add salt to taste
- Serve with coriander
