Chana Dal Recipe | चना दाल तड़का | Dhaba Style Chana Dal with spinach gravy by Tulita aahar

Chana dal or Chickpea lentils are a go-to lentil for a yummy filling with naan/bread or rice in any Asian-Indian household. It has a delicious nutty flavor and its dry powder goes by the name besan.

Chana dal is a protein-packed delicious lentil. It has 13g of protein in every 100g serving, making it great for muscles and bones. The folic acid in chana dal is rich in folates. Folate is essential in the prevention of diseases like stroke, depression, dementia, among others. It has several other benefits. (Source: NIH) Let me now share my recipe... Read on...

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chana dal

2. Green chili

3. 1 Cup chopped spinach

4. 1 tomato

5. 1/5 TSP cardamom or elaichi powder

6. Ghee

7. Mustard and cumin seeds (rai and jeera)

8. asafoetida and bay leaf

9. 1 TSP minced ginger

10. 1 finely chopped onion

11. 1 TSP salt, 1/4 TSP turmeric powder, 1 TSP red chili powder, 1.4 TSP garam masala, 1 TSP coriander powder, 1 TSP lime juice

Recipe to make Chandal in Spinach gravy:

1. Soak one cup chana dal in lukewarm water for about an hour.

2. Then pressure cook it for about 20 mins in a pressure cooker. (If you have not soaked it, boil it longer with more water in the pressure cooker.)

3. Make a paste out of 1 cup spinach, 1 green chili, and one diced tomato. It should look like shown in the video.

4. Add 2 TBSP ghee in a heated pan, followed by 1/4 tSP mustard seeds and asafoetida each, 1 TSP cumin seeds/ jeera.

5. Add 1 bay leaf and one green chili to the ghee. Let it splutter.

6. add 1 TSP minced ginger and finely chopped one medium-sized onion.

7. Now to this give it a gentle mix and add the spinach paste.

8. Add 1/4 glass water and let it cook.

9. Add 1 TSP salt, 1/4 TSP turmeric powder, 1 TSP red chili powder, 1.4 TSP garam masala, 1 TSP coriander powder, 1 TSP lime juice.

10. Then mix well and add the boiled chana dal. Mix well and let it cook for about 2 mins.

11. Ready! Enjoy this tangy and flavorful dal recipe.
    

This a go-to comfort dal recipe. I totally love the tanginess and the richness of the nutrition value in it.

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