Chana Dal Recipe

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 first published in May 2018. Updated and republished in August 2021.