Chana dal served with rice is a healthy, hearty and satisfying meal that you will love any time. It’s naturally vegan and gluten-free!! This recipe makes a delicious, spicy and protein-packed chana dal dish that will soon be your family favorite. Indians eat lentils almost daily in some or the other form. This chana dal recipe is yet another way of enjoying lentils with minimum effort. Make it on the stovetop using a traditional pressure cooker or a heavy bottom sauce pan or in the instant pot. I have shared the instructions for all the methods.
About chana dal
Chana dal also known as Bengal gram is the skinned & split version of whole brown chickpeas. Also known as kala chana, these brown/black chickpeas are the desi variety & are smaller in size than the white chickpeas, kabuli chana.
In Indian cuisine, we use the whole brown chickpeas as well the split & skinned version of the same which is the chana dal. I have also shared the recipe of the kala chana curry here.
Chana dal are one of those lentils which are high in protein, zinc, folate, fiber and calcium. So including them in our diet may help us.
In India, lentils are cooked in numerous ways and chana dal is no exception. Almost every state or region in India has a popular dish made with chana dal.
The South Indian masala vadas, Gujarati chana dal dhokla, North Indian dhaba style chana dal tadka, Maharastrian puran poli, Sindhi dal pakwan are all immensely popular dishes made with Bengal gram.
Apart from these a lot of home cooks use chana dal to make sundal, halwa, curry, stew, chutneys and many more. The fact that these are not only nutritious but also taste super delicious, has made them more popular.
My recipe
In this post I share a simple and yet delicious side dish recipe that uses chana dal as the main ingredient. The lentils are cooked until tender and later simmered in a spicy onion tomato base. This chana dal recipe needs only pantry staples and will have you coming back to it time and again because it’s delicious, simple and easy to make.
If you love the dhaba flavors, then you can finish the dish by smoking it and make an additional tadka by following my dal tadka recipe here.
This chana dal goes well with plain fluffy rice, roti, naan or even with flavoured rice dishes like Jeera rice, ghee rice or mint rice. Some papads, vegetable salad or kachumber with a bowl of raita on the side will be great.
You can also serve this with pakwan, top the prepared chana dal with tamarind chutney, green chutney, some onions and coriander leaves. You have a fantastic meal ready!
If you want to make this in an instant pot, follow my instructions in the recipe card below.
How to make chana dal recipe (stepwise pics)
Cooking lentils
1. Wash half cup chana dal well a few times. Soak it for 1 to 4 hours depending on your convenience.
2. Drain the water and add the chana dal to the pressure cooker. Then pour 1¼ cup water.
3. Pressure cook for 3 to 5 whistles depending on the size and brand of the cooker. You can also keep the dal in a bowl and pour water. Cover it and keep inside the cooker. Cook for 5 whistles. If you do not have a cooker, then just boil in a pot pouring more water as needed.
4. Chana dal must be fully cooked but not turn mushy. It must be grainy.
Tempering
5. Add 2 tablespoons ghee or oil to a kadai. When it is hot add ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
6. Then add 1 broken dried red chilies and fry for 30 seconds. Quickly add hing.
7. Next add ¼ cup chopped onions and fry until golden.
8. Add 1 teaspoon ginger or garlic (¾ inch ginger or 2 garlic cloves). Saute just until the raw smell goes away.
9. Transfer chopped ½ cup chopped tomatoes or ¼ cup pureed tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and ½ teaspoon salt.
10. Saute well until the tomatoes turn mushy. Then add ¼ to ¾ teaspoon red chili powder and ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala.
11. Again fry this for a few mins till the raw smell goes away.
Cooking chana dal
12. Next transfer the cooked dal along with the stock in cooker. You may add ¼ to ½ cup water if required to bring it to consistency.
13. Mash gently a few lentils and cook for a few minutes until the dal turns thick. Add ½ teaspoon kasuri methi and ½ teaspoon amchur (optional).
14. Cook further for 1 to 2 mins. Sprinkle coriander leaves.
Serve chana dal with plain rice, jeera rice, ghee rice, paratha or roti. Squeeze some lemon juice before serving.
For more Dal recipes, you can check
Dal makhani
Masoor dal
Moong dal
Dal fry
Dal palak
Pro Tips
Soaking chana dal: Soaking the lentils for will help them cook faster. A lot of people prefer to soak chana dal, as soaking also helps in easier digestion & avoid bloating. If making for toddlers, soak them for 4 to 6 hours. You can also refrigerate the soaked lentils for about a week so cooking becomes much easier.
Onions: A lot of times we also make this recipe without onions. We do not find much difference in the taste.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes add a depth of flavour, tang and taste to the chana dal fry. You can use more or less to suit your taste. Use them either chopped or pureed as per your liking.
Spices: We personally like to spice our lentil dishes to the minimum and here we prefer the flavour of chana dal to shine in so you won’t find a lot of whole or ground spices in this recipe.
If you prefer to use them, you can add a bay leaf and cinnamon stick either to the tempering along with cumin seeds or add them to the dal directly when you cook them initially.
Vegetables or leafy greens: We love our chana dal with various veggies and leafy greens. Sometimes I add carrots, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, yellow cucumber, spinach or methi leaves in this recipe. If using leafy greens add them to the tempering after cooking tomatoes. Wilt them and cook for a while before adding the dal.
I pressure cook other veggies with the lentils, the veggies turn mushy but that’s how we like.
Choosing lentils: Buy lentils from a store where the stocks move out faster. Old/aged stock of lentils take longer or even forever to cook. So buy from a store where you get fresher stocks.
But if you have already bought old stock lentils, then place them in a bowl and pour hot boiling water. Cover and rest for an hour before cooking.
Related posts
Recipe card
Chana dal recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- ½ cup chana dal (bengal gram)
- 1¼ cup water (1½ cups for pot & instant pot)
For Tempering
- 2 tablespoon ghee or oil or butter
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin (jeera)
- ⅛ teaspoon asafoetida (hing) (optional)
- 1 small onion (¼ cup chopped)
- 1 green chili chopped (skip if making for kids)
- 1 teaspoon ginger or garlic (chopped or paste, ¾ inch ginger or 2 garlic cloves)
- 1 medium tomato (½ cup chopped finely or ¼ cup tomato puree)
- 1 dried red chili broken (less spicy variety, optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ to ¾ teaspoon red chili powder (adjust to taste)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste)
- ¼ to ½ cup water (use as needed to bring to consistency)
- ½ teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (optional)
For garnish & serving
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro chopped finely)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or ¼ to ½ tsp dried mango powder (amchur powder)
Instructions
Preparation
- Add chana dal to a pot or cooker. Rinse a few times until water runs clear. Soak it in regular water for 1 to 4 hours as per your convenience.
- Later drain the water and pour 1¼ cups fresh water. If cooking in a pot pour 1½ cups water.
- Cook chana dal on a medium heat until soft and completely done. Dal must hold shape, yet get mashed well if you mash it .
- If using pressure cooker you may need to cook it any where for 3 to 5 whistles depending on the brand of cooker. When the pressure releases, open the lid.
Tempering chana dal
- Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add cumin and red chili. Saute until cumin begins to splutter.
- Add hing, green chilies and onions. Saute very well until the onions turn lightly golden.
- Next ginger or ginger garlic paste. Saute for 30 to 60 seconds until it turns aromatic.
- Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Saute and cook until the tomatoes turn soft.
- Next add chili powder and garam masala.
- Saute for 1 to 2 mins. Make sure raw smell of all the ingredients has gone completely & the masala smells good.
- Add chana dal along with the left over stock or water in the pot/ cooker.
- Mix everything well and if needed add little water to bring it to a consistency you like.
- Lightly mash the dal with the spatula to get a thick consistency. Cook until the chana dal begins to bubble well. Do not overcook.
- Add crushed kasuri methi and amchur powder (optional).
- Stir and turn off the stove. Add some coriander leaves & squeeze in some lemon juice.
- Transfer chana dal to a serving bowl. Serve with rice, ghee, papad or a veg salad.
Instant pot chana dal
- Pour oil to the steel insert and press saute button. Once the oil is slightly hot, add cumin seeds. As soon as they splutter, add hing, green chilli and onions.
- Stir fry until transparent for 2 mins. Add ginger garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and garam masala.
- Saute for 2 to 3 mins and add the chana dal. Pour water and deglaze the pot by scrubbing the bottom of the steel pot with a spatula.
- Secure the instant pot with the lid and position the steel release handle to sealing. Press pressure cook button and set the timer to 13 minutes.
- When the pressure drops open the lid and check. Chana dal should be soft cooked yet holding its shape. If you want a slightly consistency, you may mash some of the lentils with the back of the spoon.
- Stir in crushed kasuri methi. If you want you can also add half teaspoon amchur, more salt and garam masala at this stage. If the lentils are runny, simmer for a few more minutes. If you like it runny, add some boiling hot water and cook on a saute mode for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Turn off when the chana dal is still runny as it thickens upon cooling. Squeeze some lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
Notes
- You may soak the chana dal for 1 hour in hot water so they cook faster.
- Avoid using older stock of lentils as they take forever to cook.
- Add 1 cup of chopped spinach to the onion tomato masala and saute until the leaves wilt. Then pour the cooked chana dal. If cooking in instant pot, add the spinach after the lentils are cooked. Simmer for 1 to 2 mins until the spinach wilts.
- You can skip the onions completely and add a small carrot.
- Reduce the amount of chili powder, garam masala & skip green chilies if making for toddlers & kids.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Chana dal recipe first published in May 2018. Updated and republished in August 2021.
Very simple but great recipe again! I cooked dal quite soft and mashed some to get more thick consistency and also did little addition – tadka with garlic and cumin at the end… Just had it with rice and fresh salad. Perfect combo 👍 Thank you for sharing 😌🙏
Glad to know Helis.
Thank you so much
I am just an average cook, so enjoy experimenting with your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
This is a great lentil recipe. I added 2 jalapenos and spinach. Turned out great. My children aged 4 and 6 loved it. Thank you for the delicious recipes.
This sounds delicious. Can you tell me how to make this with coconut or coconut milk? Thank you
Sure Jaya. Use curry leaves, mustard seeds and garlic in the tempering. Pour 1/4 cup coconut milk at the last step. Skip kasuri methi and amchur.
I wanted to print out the recipe, but the “Print Recipe” button does not work… It keeps redirecting back to this same page without printing. I have printed other recipes from this site with no problem… It’s just this recipe. Why is that…? *sob*
Btw, fabulous recipes!
Hi Angela,
Try using a different browser. Also if there is a adblocker enabled, disable that and check. It works fine for me.
Delicious chana dal!!! I must say this is the best dal we ate in the recent times. As the others say your recipes don’t use a lot of spices and they still turn out very delicious. Thank you
Hello Ah Lam
So happy to hear that! Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
The chana dal turned out beautifully! A friend thought it was much better than the local Indian restaurant’s dal😀. The recipe is so well laid out and explained. I’m learning a lot about Indian food, too, just reading through various recipes. I can’t wait to make more of your recipes, Swasthi! The grilled vegetable sandwich looks especially delicious, but then there are a whole bunch more dishes to try. We have a local Indian food store and it looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time there.
Thank you!
Hello Catherine
So glad to know it turned out good. Yes give them a try.
Thank you so much!
🙂
Growing up I never liked chana dal. That changed after I made this recipe. It’s beautiful and delicious. Thank you Swasthi for sharing your knowledge and talent! God Bless!
Happy to know Sonia.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for this recipe. I am trying to find ways to incorporate more lentils and legumes into my diet bec they are great sources of protein and fiber. This was delicious and the first chana dal recipe I’ve ever tried. It is wonderful and will go into regular rotation. It is savory and full of flavor. Many thanks!
Hi,
Happy to know the recipe helped you! Thank you!
Hi Swasthi,
I always like your recipes – spicy but not so much that the main ingredient’s taste is covered up. I have a question about chana dal:
I always find a certain number of rock-hard pieces no matter how long I boil the dal. I use stovetop method (no pressure cooker). Should I switch to a pressure cooker, or is the dal I am using too old?? Thank You!
Hello James,
Thank you! Yes if the dal is too old then it may not cook. Easier way is to soak for 3 to 4 hours and then cook. I usually keep the soaked dal (drained well) in fridge for a week and add a handful to curries. They cook in about 5 to 7 mins. Hope this helps
This was great! The only change I made was using chicken stock for the water (I have never been a good vegetarian)!) It was a little too spicy for my wife but really great flavor!! Served with basmati rice and garlic naan. Perfect! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Thank you Dj,
Glad it turned out good.
I have rarely seen a recipe so well presented with pictures and descriptions. I ordered Chana Dal online from an Indian store by mistake and it has been sitting there untouched. This recipe has certainly prompted me to give it a try. Good job Swasti!
Hello Kpunja,
Thank you so much! Yes do try it. You can also add chana dal to soups or porridge along with some veggies. You can also make a salad. Hope you enjoy the dish!
Very well written. Thank you for taking time to write this great all-time favorite daal recipe.
Welcome Asif
I tried it. Very good outcome. Thanks.
You are welcome
This chana dal was absolutely delicious. Thank you.
Hi Lim,
You are welcome. Glad you liked it. Thank you!
Hi, very excited to try this recipe.
How much onion goes into it? And what type of onion?
Thanks!
Hi Dave,
You can use 1 small onion – about 3 to 4 tbsps chopped. Brown onions or red onions go well here.
Delicious–thank you!
Welcome Susan
Turned out good
Thank you
Hello! Can I use toor dal instead of chana dal? Thank you!
Hi Anna
Yes you can us toor dal
Thank you! BTW, your recipes are fantastic! My Indian husband has been very happy with the turnouts of everything I tried from your website. Thanks so much, your recipes really helped me learn a lot about indian cooking.
Welcome Anna,
Thanks a lot for trying the recipes. Very glad to know the recipes are helpful.
🙂
swasthi, thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Great.
I dont do garlic or onion so I added 1 diced green pepper (capsicum), dehydrated coriander leaves (cilantro), 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, and a teaspoon of cumin powder… it turned out wonderfully… and we like hot spicy food so I went a little liberal with the red chilly powder and green chilli. This is probably one of the best chana dal recipes I have offered… Hare Krishna… _/\_♡
Hare Krishna!
Thanks for trying the recipe. Very glad to know chana dal turned out good.