Chholar dal|chana dal bengali style

The dal or the pulses control the pulse of Indian food.No meal is complete without this humble dal(pulse) boiled and flavored  with a spicy tempering in clarified butter or Desi Ghee,called tadka. The house feels like  home when the aroma of tadka fills the house .There are many varieties of pulses used in Indian cooking but chholar dal also called Bengal gram dal or the pulses made from split chickpeas and very popular in Bengali cuisine.This dal is prepared during the festivals and form the heart  of a royal and festive vegetarian or non-vegetarian meal.In the  festive meals they are consumed with rich vegetable pulao. Interestingly they are also a very popular  Breakfast street  food  served with stuffed pooris ,called kachoris or “Radhaballavi”.

When served as a street food they are spiced with asafoetida which is generally not a part of Bengali cuisine and is more prevalent in the cuisine of North India.Our family recipe involves preparing chana dal or chholar dal  flavored with ginger and green chillies  which tastes more on the sweeter side.Some families even use jaggery to sweeten the dal.So the chholar dal made at home tastes spicy with the ginger and green chillies and sweetness from the sugar and jaggery while the dal served on the streets is less sweeter version and flavor is dominated by the asafoetida or hing.

The recipe which I cook at home for years and have earned a lot of appreciation from the guests is a fusion of both the recipes which I want to share with you.

Ingredients

1. 200 gms chana or Bengal gram  dal
2. 2 to 3 cups water
3. Ginger 1 tbsp grated
4. green chillies  2 to 4
5. Cumin seeds 1 tbsp
6. Asafoetida  powder 1tsp
7. turmeric powder 1 tsp
8. Salt 2 tsp
9. Sugar 2 to 4 tbsp
10. Clarified butter (2  to 3 tbsp)
11. Coconut cut into tiny small cubes(1/4 cup)[optional]

Method

1. Wash the pulses thoroughly in water and drain
2. Cook them in pressure cooker with turmeric and salt or in slow heat until they are tender and mushy.
3. Add the clarified butter in the pan
4. When the ghee becomes hot add cumin seeds  followed by ginger paste and asafoetida.
5. Fry them for few seconds.
6. Add the boiled dal and mix.if you like.
7. Add coconut
8. Add sugar and split green chilies.
9. Cover cook them for 20 to 25  minutes in slow heat.The more you can cook a dal on slow heat the better.
10. If the consistency is of your choice take it off from the heat and serve ,else you can add little more water.The dal will be on the thicker side and not watery consistency.
11. Serve with pulao or deep fried flatbreads.

Note:In Bengali cuisine the tempering of the Dal is not added later unlike the Dal cooked in the other regions of the country.

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Chholar dal

Bengal gram dal cooked with spices more on the sweeter side to taste

Servings 4 persons

Author indrani

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 200 gms chana or Bengal gram  dal
• 2 to 3 cups water
• 1 tbsp Ginger grated
• 2 to 4 green chillies 
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Asafoetida  powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 to 4 tbsp Sugar
• 3 tbsp Clarified butter
• 1/4 cup Coconut cut into tiny small cubes [optional]

READ  Bombay duck fry recipe video

Instructions

Method

1. Wash the pulses thoroughly in water and drain
2. Cook them in pressure cooker with turmeric and salt or in slow heat until they are tender and mushy.
3. Add the clarified butter in the pan
4. When the ghee becomes hot add cumin seeds  followed by ginger paste and asafoetida.
5. Fry them for few seconds.
6. Add the boiled dal and mix.if you like.
7. Add coconut
8. Add sugar and split green chilies.
9. Cover cook them for 20 to 25  minutes in slow heat.The more you can cook a dal on slow heat the better.
10. If the consistency is of your choice take it off from the heat and serve ,else you can add little more water.The dal will be on the thicker side and not watery consistency.
11. Serve with pulao or deep fried flatbreads.

Recipe Notes

In Bengali cuisine the tempering of the Dal is not added later unlike the Dal cooked in the other regions of the country.

Other versions from the web

1. Bengali style chholar dal from vegrecipesofIndia
2. Chholar dal recipe from foodviva.com
3. Chholar dal recipe from Bongcookbook.com

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