Chana Dal Recipe
Jan 22, 2021, Updated Feb 01, 2021
My favorite Chana Dal Recipe where chana dal is cooked with onion, tomatoes and a bunch of spices to make is super flavorful. It is also vegan and gluten-free.
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Chana Dal is one of my favorite dals to enjoy with rice. Made with fresh ingredients and a handful of spices, this dal is packed with flavors!
It is also vegan and gluten-free.
Chana dal had a special place in my heart growing up. Mainly because it wasn’t made everyday in my house unlike toor/arhar dal.
Mom made chana dal once in every few months when we got super bored of eating the same toor dal everyday. And so it always felt special.
I would come back from school and if I saw chana dal on the table, I would be delighted. Because it was a change from the regular dal.
This dal isn’t as light on the stomach as toor or moong dal and probably that’s the reason that it wasn’t made everyday in my house.
We used to love it with rice also with warm rotis. Most of the time it had a tadka (tempering) of onion, tomatoes, cumin seeds etc.
Now, I make a version in my kitchen quite often and I am sharing that with you guys.
I already have an instant pot chana dal recipe on the blog, that’s much easier and one pot so if you are looking for a super simple recipe, check that out.
For this recipe, I use few extra spices and steps and also boil the dal first and then make the masala in a separate pan and then mix the two. This is hands down my favorite Chana Dal Recipe and I am excited to share it with you guys!
Why This Chana Dal Recipe Works
This recipe is so flavorful and what makes it work is the use of fresh ingredients. This is a north Indian style Chana Dal since I am from north India, this is how I make it.
There’s freshly chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chili and cilantro. The fresh ingredients impart so much flavor to this recipe and so do not substitute them with store bought and canned stuff.
Like do not use store bought ginger-garlic paste here, it just won’t have the same flavor.
The recipe also works because all the wonderful spices and the fresh ingredients come together beautifully. The dal also has a smoky flavor which is imparted to it through the dhungar method (infusing smoky flavor through hot charcoal).
This is optional but the smokiness does elevate the flavors.
Ingredients
This recipe uses onion, tomatoes which forms the base of the masala and a handful of spices to flavor the dal.
Chana Dal: this recipe uses 100% chana dal and no other lentils. If you think only chana dal can be too heavy for your stomach, you can definitely replace 25% of it with a lighter alternative like toor or moong dal.
Onion & tomato: of course the key ingredient for the masala of this dal so do not skip on either of these.
Garlic-Ginger-Chili: I love using fresh ginger and garlic here which I crush using a mortar and pestle and then use in the recipe. The freshly pounded ginger and garlic give so much flavor to this dal.
Spices: I have used a bunch of spices in this recipe though not in large amount. The quantity of the spices is less since this is a dal and not a curry and we don’t want it to be totally overpowered with spices.
The spices that I used here are coriander, garam masala, kashmiri red chili powder (mainly for color) and kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves).
Please keep in mind that kashmiri red chili powder used here is not hot, if you want the dal to be spicier, you can replace half of it with regular chili powder.
Cilantro: of course a good amount of cilantro is must for me in dal and this recipe is no exception.
Tips To Make A Good Dal
Making a good dal is really easy, here’s what you should keep in mind.
Use fresh ingredients– this is important since that’s how dal is traditionally made in India. I never ever saw canned tomatoes or chilies being used in my house and we ate dal everyday.
So use fresh tomatoes, fresh ginger-garlic, chilies. Crushing the fresh ginger-garlic adds a lot of flavor.
Use good quality spices– even though we don’t add a ton of spices to this dal, still it’s important to use good quality spices here. They add to the flavor.
The kashmiri red chili powder gives the dal that beautiful color without adding much heat to it.
Definitely use kasuri methi– dried fenugreek leaves give a wonderful aroma to the dal, so do not skip on them especially if you are making a dal with lots of masala in it.
Use ghee for extra flavor- again not essential but adds to flavor. For this recipe, I have not used ghee and it was still fantastic. But adding ghee is an option that you can use for more flavor.
Smoke the dal- I love smoking my dals with dhungar method. For this method, you heat up a piece of charcoal and then place that hot charcoal in a bowl which is placed over the dish.
Drizzle some ghee or oil over the hot charcoal and as soon as you see fumes coming out, close the pot with the lid and let it remain like that for few minutes.
This traps the smoke and gives the dish that smoky flavor. Be careful though, if you leave it for a very long time, the dish becomes very smoky. For my dals usually, I do it for no more than 2-3 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this recipe vegan?
It is, since I used oil in the tadka. If you use ghee, then it won’t be vegan.
Is this recipe gluten-free?
Yes, it is gluten-free.
I don’t have a pressure cooker, how do I make this dal?
I would suggest soaking the dal overnight and then adding it to a pot, add water, turmeric, salt and cook on stove-top medium heat until it softens.
It will probably takes 30 minutes or so if you have soaked it. If you haven’t soaked it, the time will be more.
What do we serve the chana dal with?
Serve it with plain rice or jeera rice or with roti and any sabzi as a part of a simple Indian meal. You can also eat it with quinoa or any other grain of choice.
Which charcoal is used for the dhungar method?
So, I get this question in every recipe where I use dhungar method. I get charcoal from grocery store, it’s available where you have all the BBQ stuff, just make sure it is NOT the self-ignite variety.
Method
1- Rinse the chana dal and then add it to a pressure cooker along with 2.5 cups water (20 oz), 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
2- Pressure cook the dal until it’s cooked and soft. On normal stove-top pressure cooker, it would take 8-10 whistles on high flame. If using an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 13 minutes. In both the cases, let the pressure release naturally.
Set this aside and work on the masala. Meanwhile crush 4 large garlic cloves, 1.5-inch ginger and 1 green chili in a mortar pestle and set it aside.
3- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the whole spices- cumin seeds, cloves, green cardamom and cinnamon stick. Sauté for few seconds until the spices are fragrant.
4- Then add the chopped onion and cook for around 3 to 4 minutes until they are soft and start to change color.
5- Now, add the freshly pounded garlic-ginger-green chili and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
6- Then add the chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for 7 to 8 minutes until they are very soft and completely cooked. Also add 1/2 teaspoon salt along with the tomatoes.
7- Then add the spices- coriander powder, garam masala, kashmiri red chili powder and kasuri methi. Also add the cilantro. If you want to make the dal spicier, you can replace half of the kashmiri red chili powder with regular chili powder which is hotter. Stir and cook the spices for 30 seconds.
8- Now, add the boiled chana dal to the pan along with 1/2 to 3/4 cup ( 4 to 6 oz) of more water (depending on the consistency you prefer).
9- Stir and let the dal simmer for 5 to 6 minutes on medium-low heat.
10- For the tadka, heat 2 teaspoons oil (or you can use ghee) in a small pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic (from remaining 2 cloves of garlic) and dried red chili and cook for one minute until the garlic starts changing color.
11-Transfer tadka to the simmering chana dal and stir.
12- This step is optional. For the dhungar method, place a steel bowl on top of the dal. Then using tongs heat a piece of charcoal over direct heat until its red hot. Place the hot charcoal in that steel bowl on top of the dal using the tongs .
Pour oil or ghee on top of charcoal. You will immediately see fumes coming out of charcoal. Immediately close the pan with a lid. Let it remain like this for 2 to 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove lid and remove the bowl from dal. The longer you keep the lid closed, the smokier dal will get, I don’t like doing it for more than 3 minutes.
Serve chana dal with rice, roti!
More Dal Recipes
If you’ve tried this Chana Dal Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Chana Dal Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal 205 grams
- 3 cups water 24 oz, divided, more or less as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1.25 teaspoons salt divided
- 6 large garlic cloves divided, 4 whole and 2 chopped
- 1.5 inch ginger
- 1 green chili
- 2 tablespoons +2 teaspoons oil divided, 30 ml + 10 ml (I used avocado oil)
- 1 medium red onion 160 grams, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 whole cloves
- 2 green cardamom
- 1.5 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 medium tomatoes 285 grams, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder this is for color and is not hot
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi crushed, dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 whole dried red chili
- piece of charcoal for dhungar method, optional
Instructions
- Rinse the chana dal and then add it to a pressure cooker along with 2.5 cups water (20 oz), 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Pressure cook the dal until it's cooked and soft. On normal stove-top pressure cooker, it would take 8-10 whistles on high flame. If using an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 13 minutes. In both the cases, let the pressure release naturally.Set this aside and work on the masala. Meanwhile crush 4 large garlic cloves, 1.5-inch ginger and 1 green chili in a mortar pestle and set it aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the whole spices- cumin seeds, cloves, green cardamom and cinnamon stick. Sauté for few seconds until the spices are fragrant.
- Then add the chopped onion and cook for around 3 to 4 minutes until they are soft and start to change color.
- Now, add the freshly pounded garlic-ginger-green chili and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for 7 to 8 minutes until they are very soft and completely cooked. Also add 1/2 teaspoon salt along with the tomatoes.
- Then add the spices- coriander powder, garam masala, kashmiri red chili powder and kasuri methi. Also add the cilantro. If you want to make the dal spicier, you can replace half of the kashmiri red chili powder with regular chili powder which is hotter. Stir and cook the spices for 30 seconds.
- Now, add the boiled chana dal to the pan along with 1/2 to 3/4 cup ( 4 to 6 oz) of more water (depending on the consistency you prefer). Stir and let the dal simmer for 5 to 6 minutes on medium-low heat.
- For the tadka, heat 2 teaspoons oil (or you can use ghee) in a small pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic (from remaining 2 cloves of garlic) and dried red chili and cook for one minute until the garlic starts changing color.Transfer tadka to the simmering chana dal and stir.
- This step is optional. For the dhungar method, place a steel bowl on top of the dal. Then using tongs heat a piece of charcoal over direct heat until its red hot. Place the hot charcoal in that steel bowl on top of the dal using the tongs .Pour oil or ghee on top of charcoal. You will immediately see fumes coming out of charcoal. Immediately close the pan with a lid. Let it remain like this for 2 to 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove lid and remove the bowl from dal. The longer you keep the lid closed, the smokier dal will get, I don't like doing it for more than 3 minutes. Serve chana dal hot with rice, roti!
Notes
- This recipe uses oil so it's vegan. But you can use ghee here, will add flavor.
- I do not soak the chana dal and cook is straight away. If you want to soak for 3-4 hours, reduce the cooking time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi!
I found your Chana Dal recipe having a five star rating and decided to try it.
It was easy to make (your step by step instructions were very clear and easy to follow) and the end result was delicious. I will have to try your other recipes! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!!
thank you for trying!
thankyou, I have been searching for the perfect Chana Dhal as the side/veggie option for curry nights at home and your recipe using my pressure cooker (old style) has worked so well even the meat eaters can not resist.
thanks for the feedback 🙂
Could you please explain what the difference is between Chana Dal and Chana Masala. I see you have a recipe for both of them on your site. Or more generally: what’s the diffrenece between XXX Dal and XXX Masala?
Love your recipes btw.
Hi Nanna. Chana dal and Chana Masala are made with different “key” ingredient. The chana masala is made with white chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and chana dal is made with split chickpeas which is a lentil. So it’s beans v/s lentil when it comes to chana masala v/s chana dal.
Dal refers to any lentil in India. Dal is the ingredient and also the dish so it can me confusing 🙂 but we refer to both the lentil and also the dish as “dal”. Dal can be made with various lentils like chana dal, toor dal, masoor dal and so on. Masala just means spices in Hindi. Hope this helps.
I made the Chana dal and the Jeera rice. It was delicious and I’m so proud to make authentic Indian cuisine. Wish I could add pictures.
you can always share it on social media and tag me or email me. Glad you enjoyed the recipes!
Hi Manali,
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes! Everything I have ever made from you has been amazing 🙂
Thank you for following along! 🙂
Hi Manali,
The charcoal available in US has oil in it which might not be good to use it for smoky flavors, do you know if we have charcoal which does not have any oils/chemicals in it?
Thanks
Seema
you have to get the one which is not self ignited
Made with spinach and potatoes.was really nice.
I had a brain malfunction and accidentally made this with chickpeas instead of chana dal. Still delicious! But very watery haha
haha, glad you still liked it!
Fantastic! Couldn’t find green cardamom or kashmir at the grocery store, so used 1/2 tsp of ground cardamom and cayenne pepper instead of kashmiri. Also used Ghee instead of oil. So good, thank you.
Great recipe
Hi Manali,
Please could you advise. When changing the channel daal amount on the 1x, 2x and 3x, the channa daal amount remains the same at 205grams but everything else changes. This doesn’t seem correct.
Hi Saleha, this is how the recipe plugin is unfortunately and it can’t be fixed. Please follow the measurements on the left side like 1 cup changes to 3 cups and so on. The gram measurements I just write because people like having measurements in weight also but measurements mentioned on the right hand side won’t change with 1x, 2 x since I write them outside the measuring box in another column. I had removed this feature for sometime because of this very reason as it causes confusion but then so many of the readers asked me to bring it back.
Check the left side only, chana dal does change to 2 cups, 3 cups , water to 6 cups, 9 cups and so on.
This is the best dal I’ve ever made. Thank you for a winning recipe!
The smoking method takes the dish to another level…yummy..my kids love it..
I don’t have a pressure cooker and have seen your instructions for cooking on a stove top, but you don’t mention how much water to cook the chana dal in?
I assume this is important as the dal and and cooking water is added to the tomato masala in the last stages
honestly I have never cooked dals on stove-top because I am an Indian and we just don’t cook dals without pressure cooker. I would start with 2-3 cups water and cook. If the water is evaporating too quickly before the dal is cooked, I will add more and go from there. You can always adjust the final consistency of dal according to your preference.
I’m an Indian too. My British husband doesn’t like pressure cookers. So I’ve started cooking daals in slow cookers. Just done channa daal. I used the twice as much water as dal proportions. It’s taken 18 hours on high setting. 🙄🙄 (I know!!) but it’s done.
Hi Manali,
Your recipe looks delicious and I’d love to cook this but I don’t have a pressure cooker, can you advise an alternative way to cook the lentils.
Thankyou.
Emma
soak the chana dal for 4-5 hours, then add it to a pot with water. cook with salt and turmeric until the dal is completely cooked, will take around 30 minutes. then make the recipe as it is.
Hi Manali,
yes its very nice recipe. I tried this with organic chana dal. Tastes very natural and yummy yummy .
Hi Manali,
I see this smoking method in more than one recipes here and really would like to give it a try. What kind of charcoal is this or where do you get these charcoal normally? I only see huge bags for bbq in store.
Thanks!
yes those huge bags are what you need, just make sure the charcoal isn’t the self ignited one
Gracias Manali!!!!! una belleza de receta, perfectamente explicada y riquísima, la hice adaptándola al Caribbean y quedó exquisita 😋
I really adore your recipes. I have a question about the tadka though: I’m some other recipes the tadka contains seeds etc. I was wondering if it does not disturb when chomp on them when the tadka is transferred to the Chana Dal or other Dal recipes?
you mean whole spices? You can remove them before serving. the seeds like cumin seeds, mustard seeds etc. are fine and should be eaten.
Yes thank you so much for replying. Your dishes are really incredible!
Like everybody else, I loved loved loved this dish! I left out the spices I didn’t have and still wonderful. Next time I make it I will try doing the complete recipe. Thanks for sharing such tasty dishes!
glad to know Ana!
I’ve never made this before but it was super easy and unbeatably tasty
glad to hear!
It leaves a lot of left over water is that how it’s supposed to be? like there’s nothing to make it thick, it’s thin with the water.
There are step by step pictures which show how it’s supposed to look like. The dal thickens a lot once it cools down but it should never be thin like water to begin with (nothing wrong in thin dal though but I don’t make chana dal super thin). I am not sure why it was that thin? You can always add even less water and try again.
If you use the dhungar method, can you reuse the same piece of charcoal from a previous time?
I do not use,
This was my first time cooking Indian food. This is soooo full of flavor. I will make it again for sure. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Can’t wait to eat the left over, tomorrow 😊
awesome!
Very easy and delicious. I prepare it every 15 days. Thank you for sharing this receipt.
you are welcome!
hi! i dont have a pressure cooker that whistles persay but does make a lot of noise. how do i know what 8-10 whistles = time wise? is it the same time as used on the instant pot? i cannot find this conversion on the internet.
cook for probably 20 minutes
Ive just made this and its the best one yet absolutely loved it. And will be making it again. Thankyou
I am so glad to know 🙂
This recipe was delicious. I added about a 1/4 cup of moong dal too which made it very creamy. My husband even said it was better than his mom’s which is high praise. (Shhh…don’t tell her!)
haha not telling!
Hi can I make this on the stove top? What’s the steps?
soak dal for 2 hours, then cook on stove-top until the dal is soft and cooked. All steps remain same.
Tasty! Ate for three days in a row (only eating for one). In some dal recipes do you not crush the lentils? Or is it personal preference? Thanks!
we never crush the lentils, you probably mean over-boiling them. Chana dal as a lentil is bigger in size compared to say toor dal or red lentils or moong dal. So it never really dissolves like the other lentils would.
Amazing, I put the tomatoes in after the dry spices, but otherwise all followed to the letter, really great recipe
Tried this recipe, without additional tadka at the end. Loved it!!
Tried this last night, came out very well! Thanks
Thumbs up for this recipe, tried it out last night. Came out well.
glad to know!
Lucky to be alive today! We had this yesterday and it was so good we almost died!
Followed the recipe step by step, but added two good handful of diced carrots as I realized the amount would not be enough for the three of us – 2 rather small ladies and one average man. And I had generously portioned all ingredients already. We had sides as well and a good amount of basmati rice, yet, we finished it all. Hence, I believe, the recipe is for two servings rather than four.
I tried the dhungar method but probably was too anxious not to overdo it, so the effect was only minimal. More next time, and many next times there will be!
Excellent. I shall love to copy it. Thanks a lot.
Does the recipe require a cinnamon stick & green cardamom? It looks like it from one of the pictures but it’s not listed in the recipe.
Thanks! I love all of your recipes!
it does and it is listed under ingredients- I can see , please have a look again
“1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
2 green cardamom
1.5 inch cinnamon stick”
Manali in the Chana dal receipe, you haven’t mentioned the amount of garam masala spices to be put. Please include dis detail too. Thanks. Lv your receipes. M from india
sorry added 🙂
Though I used to make Chanadal differently, without onion and garlic, but seems it might be tasty with onion and garlic. Ill try now this way. Thanks.