Chana Dal Recipe (Bengal Gram Dal)

This delicious North Indian Chana dal is a protein-packed dish made with Bengal gram/ split chickpeas, spices and herbs. It’s healthy, hearty, flavor-packed and everything you want for a good & satisfying meal. It goes well with rice, millets, quinoa or whole grain flatbreads. It’s naturally gluten-free and is 100% plant-based if you use oil. In this post I share how to make a super delicious Chana Dal, with and without a pressure cooker (in a sauce pan).

This recipe is divided into 3 sections – cook the lentils, make a spicy & fragrant onion tomato masala, later simmer lentils in the masala. Lastly make a special tadka for a flavor boost.

About Chana Dal

Chana dal is derived from Kala Chana, the desi variety of chickpeas (whole brown chickpeas) and not from white chickpeas (Kabuli Chana). The whole legume is skinned and split to get the chana dal. These are also labelled as split chickpeas, Bengal gram, yellow gram or gram dal in the stores.

Apart from having a distinct flavor and texture, these take longer to cook when compared to the other lentils. Like any other lentils, fresher stocks cook faster while those that have been sitting in the stores and warehouses for longer, take much longer time to cook. So always buy chana dal from a store where the stocks move out faster.

Soak or no soak?

If you do not have a pressure cooker, soak the lentils overnight or at least for 30 mins in hot boiling water (covered). I never soak mine and it always gets cooked perfectly, with 10 mins pressure cook time in the instant pot and 4 whistles in a 3 lts stovetop steel cooker (medium flame).

But if you have a tough time cooking them faster even in the pressure cooker, soak them in boiling hot water for 30 mins before cooking.

No Pressure Cooker?

You can cook chana dal in a sauce pan. Soak the dal in boiling hot water for 30 mins and cover. Later bring back to a boil and cook uncovered on a medium heat for 5 mins. Discard the scum that arises on top & add turmeric. Cook partially covered, leaving a spoon in the pot, until the lentils are tender & begin to break down slightly (not mushy). Takes around 30 mins, keep adding more hot water as required.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Whole spices like bay leaf, cumin seeds, black cardamoms, green cardamoms, cinnamon and dried red chilies add a lot of depth and flavor to your chana dal. It makes your dish special. However if you want to make a basic version, you may omit these but just use cumin seeds and more garam masala.
• Ground Spices like Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, coriander and cumin powder are essential to make this dish.
• Special ingredients like kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and amchur (mango powder) add beautiful North Indian flavors to the dish. You may omit kasuri if you don’t have and use chaat masala or lemon juice to substitute amchur.
• Onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies & coriander leaves are the other basic essentials in this recipe. If you don’t eat onions & garlic, you may omit them. Coriander leaves are used to garnish, you may omit them if you don’t have.
• Fats – While oil helps to saute the onions and make the base masala, ghee helps to make a fragrant tadka. If you want to make this a low fat dish, omit the tadka and add the ingredients under tadka while you make the onion tomato base/masala. I have more details in the notes below. To make the dish plant-based, use oil.
• Asafoetida also known as hing is a spice used to flavor lentil dishes. You may omit if you don’t like and it won’t affect the flavor of this dish. It usually has a small amount of gluten, look for a gluten-free version if you follow a GF diet.

3 Expert Tips for a special Chana Dal

• To bring out the unique flavors, chana dal should be cooked long enough until some of them begin to break down in the onion tomato masala. These broken lentils make your dish thicker, without water separation and they get fragrant only at this stage.
• Chana dal has a natural strong flavor that is sweeter than other lentils. Using a good amount of whole and ground spices complements & enhances those flavors. So use a moderate amount of spices.
• For a special outstanding flavor, always make a fresh special tadka just before serving. This takes your dish to the next level. However If you want to omit the special tadka, simply include all the ingredients listed for additional tadka when you make the onion tomato masala. Ex – add cumin seeds when you add the other whole spices. Add more ginger, garlic, red chili, green chilies, red chilies when you make the masala. Add the hing and also the ghee if you want during the same process.

More lentil dishes
Masala Vada
Dal Tadka
Dal Fry
Masoor Dal
Dal Makhani

Photo Guide

How to make Chana Dal (Stepwise Pics)

This recipe serves 3 to 4. If you want you may halve the recipe for fewer servings.

1. Add 1 cup chana dal (205 grams) to a colander or a large bowl. Rinse well thrice under running water while you rub with your fingers. Drain and transfer to a pressure cooker or a large bowl. Pour 3 cups (710 ml) water and add ½ teaspoon turmeric.

2. Pressure cook in the instant pot for 10 mins. If using a stovetop cooker, cook on a medium flame, until you hear 4 to 5 whistles. Let the pressure drop naturally. Your chana dal should ideally get mashed easily when you press down in between your fingers, but still hold shape. It should not be al dente.

3. Meanwhile prep up the following ingredients:

• Fine chop 1 medium onion to make ¾ cup (100 grams)
• Mince or grate ¾ inch ginger to make ½ tablespoon (6 grams)
• Mince or grate 4 to 5 medium garlic cloves to make 1 tablespoon (11 grams)
• Fine chop 2 medium tomatoes to make 1 cup (150 grams)
• ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (adjust to taste)
• ½ teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
• ½ teaspoon amchur (dried mango powder or chaat masala or use 2 tablespoons lemon juice while serving)
• 1 Indian bay leaf (optional), 2 inch cinnamon piece (Ceylon/cassia), 1 black cardamom, 3 green cardamoms (or use ¼ tsp ground cardamom, won’t be able to pick from the dal later)

Make the onion tomato masala

4. While the chana dal cooks, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and add the whole spices – bay leaf, cinnamon, black and green cardamoms. When the spices begin to sizzle in the hot oil, add the chopped onions and saute on a medium flame for 6 to 7 mins, until light golden.

5. Stir in the ginger and garlic. Saute until aromatic, for 1 to 2 mins.

6. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they break down to a mush, for 4 to 5 mins.

7. Add all the ground spices – red chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt.

8. Saute for 2 mins until aromatic.

9. Mix in the cooked chana dal with the remaining stock/dal cooked water.

10. Some of my chana dal is usually broken down so I don’t need to mash, but if your’s isn’t, mash some of them. This keeps the dal binded and there is no water separation.

11. If you feel your dal is too thick, you may add some hot water. Mix and simmer until thick, for 5 mins. Crush kasuri methi in your hands and sprinkle. Stir in the amchur if using. Taste test and adjust salt to your preference. If using chaat masala sprinkle all over the chana dal.

12. This is the consistency and texture we prefer. It thickens further after cooling down. If you want you may pick and discard the whole spices bay leaf, black cardamom and cinnamon.

Make the tempering or Tadka

13. While the dal is simmering, prep up the ingredients for tadka

• 1½ to 2 tablespoon ghee or oil
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 green chilies deseed & slit or dried red chilies (or both, omit green chilies if making for kids)
• 2 garlic cloves chopped (4 grams)
• ½ inch ginger juliennes (4 grams)
• ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing, optional)
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (optional, use only if required)

14. Heat a small pan on a medium flame and add ghee. Stir in the ginger, garlic, red and green chilies. Let them fry for 1 to 2 mins, until aromatic. Do not burn. Turn off the flame and add red chili powder (to increase the heat) and hing (optional).

Pour this over the Chana Dal and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with plain basmati rice, Jeera rice, plain parathas or roti.

Variations

• You can add 4 to 5 cups of baby spinach to this dish. Saute in a tablespoon ghee/oil for 4 to 5 mins and add it to the chana dal at the last stage.
• If you are including vegetables (as mentioned below) you omit the whole spices like cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaf. Use more cumin seeds
• A lot of Telugu speaking people cook veggies like ridge gourd/turai, bottle gourd/ lauki, yellow cucumber and pumpkin with chana dal. Cook them in the onion tomato masala until tender yet firm. Later add the cooked chana dal. Your dish will take on the flavors of the veggies here.
• Alternately I pressure cook the gourd veggies along with the chana dal and just add to the masala. You can also make a one pot dish in pressure cooker with chana dal and gourd veggies. The veggies get mushy but we are okay with that.
• You can also add curry leaves and mustard seeds to your tadka, for a North-South Indian mixed flavors.

Related posts

Recipe Card

Originally published in May 2017, Republished in July 2025.