This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Easy Chana Dal Recipe. Split chickpeas make a smooth nutty soup. Flavored with roasted cumin tempering. Make it in an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker or a Sauepan. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe
This easy chana dal makes a fabulous weekday meal. Chana Dal are brown chickpeas that have been split and skinned/polished. They have the same earthy nutty flavor profile as brown chickpeas(which are also called bengal gram, Kala chana in Hindi). You can use split yellow peas or split pigeon peas to make this recipe as well.
Chana Dal has a great texture and flavor and is available online at Bob’s Red mill or anywhere where you can find bob’s red mill legumes or amazon(Chana Dal (Split Desi Chickpeas)
The dal is cooked to al dente, then cooked further with the flavoring ingredients like tomato, garlic, ginger and spices and then finished off with a toasty tempering of cumin seeds. Simple and delicious!
Serve the dal with flatbreads or rice or cooked grains and cooked or raw sliced veggies on the side.
Chana Dal beans look like split peas, but they are textured and not smooth on the outer side. Chana dal is often used in Northern Indian dals and used in southern Indian cooking in tempering, chutneys and sauces.
More Dals/Dahls from the blog
- Dal Makhani
- Kashmiri Dal – Split Pea & Yellow Lentil Soup
- Curried Chickpea stuffed Acorn Squash
- Dal Baati – Pigeon Pea Soup.
- Chickpea Sundal – Spiced Chickpea Coconut Salad.
Seattle and surrounding area people: There will be a march on April 25 at 2 pm through the University of Washington to protest the new animal lab.
Countries are banning animal testing, and major universities shrinking their animal research and the UW is actually planning to build a brand new expanded animal laboratory underground. Just this month, the acting UW President admitted to a NARN Board member that she had never even toured the current laboratories, (which have been cited numerous times for animal mistreatment). Please join in to be the voice for the animals that might end up tortured in this lab.
Also, Tweet storm today to keep the pressure on the city to send elephants Bamboo and Chai to sanctuary instead of another zoo. TweetSheet: https://www.freewpzelephants.org/docs/Tweet_Sheet.pdf
I will be giving away a few spice tiffins(masala dabba – pictured below) at the book launch! So keep an eye on the posts in May.
Did I mention that there are 25+ Dals in the book. 🙂 Legume love!
Video:
Easy Chana Dal Recipe. Split Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
Dal:
- 1/2 cup chana dal - split chickpeas, or use split peas
- 2 cups water
- 1 large tomato
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/3 to 1/2 tsp salt
To temper:
- 1/2 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- a generous pinch of asafetida hing
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Soak the dal for 1 hour to overnight. Drain and combine with 2 cups water in a saucepan. Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes over medium heat. Open the lid a crack if the water threatens to boil over.
- Meanwhile, blend the tomato, garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, paprika and cayenne with 1/2 cup of water until smooth.
- Add the tomato mixture and salt to the cooking split peas. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes or until the split peas are tender. Mash some of the split peas and continue to simmer until desired tenderness and consistency.
- Make the tempering: Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and cook until they change color. half to 1 minute. Add in the asafetida. Add half of this tempering, garam masala, cayenne to the simmering dal and mix in. Taste and adjust salt and spice. Take off heat, add cilantro and mix in. garnish with the remaining tempering and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yum – just made this for dinner and it’s delicious! I didn’t have asafetida, but an online search for a substitute said to use garlic powder, so I did that. Thanks Richa!
perfect, thanks Hillary
I looked everywhere to find asafetida. Finally I found it and I was thrilled as it seems to be in so many Indian recipes. I used it once and nearly fell out! I did not like it at all. Is there anything you might recommend using in its place? I’m afraid to even open the glass jar I put it in for fear of the scent.
Thanks
It’s an acquired flavor. Just omit it. Add a bit more garlic
Oh man, I love this recipe, but it didn’t scale up well 🙁 I tried to make 6 servings. Scaled up to 6 c water plus 1.5 c more in the tomato mixture. Made it in the instant pot. Now I have a huge pot of dal flavored water. Bummer.
The widget just multiplies everything. This works in skillet recipes but not instant pot. For doubling in instant pot you should use 1.5 times the liquid and so on. Liquid doesn’t evaporate in the pot. So you don’t need exact double amount.
You can add in more split peas and cook for another cycle
Very good and easy recipe. A lot of flavor. I made with grilled vegetables as a side dish and added Chana dal on top —-delish
This is a consistent favorite in our home. Rapid and straightforward. And most importantly delicious.
always the most important factor, thanks
Love the recipe! It’s quick and easy to understand. I actually tried this with other types of dal and it worked out great.
perfect! I’m glad. thanks for popping in !
I’ve used your Easy Chana Dahl recipe many times this year. Making dahl to taste like what I’ve eaten in India can be tricky, but this recipe rates among the very best to my taste buds, I come back to it again and again when making Indian foods. Best of all, it really is easy!! Thank you for posting!
I just made it with one twist, added Kasturi methi and onions to the cumin seeds and asfotida. It was just unbelievable! The whole family loved it!
I’d like to make 8 servings v 2 as per original recipe in an instant pot. Would I use two cups water or eight cups water in instant pot (after soaking the chana for 15 min) ?
use 6 cups, you want to use a bit less than the doubled or multipled amount of liquid in instant pot recipes
This is really a spectacular recipe and so easy. I didn’t have asafetida so I omitted it as you suggested. If I were going to use fresh chilis instead of cayenne, should I mince and temper with the cumin or blend with the tomato mixture?