Chana Dal Recipe
Chana Dal is the Hindi word for “Bengal Grams” and its fry is a traditional sub-continental cuisine. This food is commonly eaten throughout the Indian subcontinent and very common here. It is usually eaten with steamed hot rice, some gravy dish making it a healthy meal.
It is obtained from black chickpeas. This food is highly effective for people on diets and chronic diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, etc. Here is a brief discussion on the popular recipe of chana dal fry.
Prep Time : 1hr
Cook Time : 30m
Total Time : 1hr 30m
Cuisine : Indian
Servings : 3
INGREDIENTS
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1/2 cup chana dal
1 cup water
ghee
1/2 tsp cumin
1 chopped onion
1 green chili chopped
1 tomato chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
Little coriander leaves
1/4 tsp kasuri methi
INSTRUCTIONS
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Clean the chana dal and soak in water for 3-4 hours.
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Drain the water and pour 1 cup fresh water.
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Pressure cook the chana dal until the dal becomes soft.
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Heat ghee in a pan
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Add cumin and red chili powder.
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Add green chilies and onion. Saute very well till onions turn golden.
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Add ginger and garlic paste. Saute for 1 minute.
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Add tomatoes
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Add salt, turmeric, chili powder, garam masala,
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Add chana dal
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Cook until the chana dal becomes fully cooked
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Add kasuri methi
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Squeeze lemon
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Garnish the mixture with coriander leaves
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Serve with rice
Origin and Popularity
There is no specific origin of this food recipe as Bengal grams is a staple food in the Indian sub-continent. Besides, it can also be seen to grow in Mediterranean, Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and South America making it a common food recipe in these regions.
Because of its rich nutritional values, it is popular amongst patients with a chronic illness like hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, etc. It is eaten as a side dish alongside rice, meat, or fish gravy and bread also.
Nutritional facts
This food recipe is completely a vegetarian meal. Since it is consumed as a side dish, people don’t add meat or fish to this recipe making it completely vegetarian.
This recipe is highly rich in protein, fiber, vegetable fat, vitamin-A, and minerals making it a healthy food for those on a diet. Chronic illness patients can consume this food and remain healthy without worrying about being sick.
This food recipe is not that hard to make or too complex. In addition to our daily food, this food recipe can increase our nutritional content keeping us healthy. People on a diet can rely on this food. Thus making it people favorite everywhere.
Dal Makhani
Dal makhani is a lentil-based stew that is made using soaked black lentils boiled and cooked with lots of butter and cream. Dal stands for lentil and Makhani refers to cream and butter, hence “Dal Makhani”. It is a famous delicacy of North India.
It is a recipe mostly prepared on occasions of joy, happiness in those regions. Since lentil is a staple food in the Indian Sub-continent this recipe is popular in this region. The flavor and texture of this magnificent recipe has earned the praise of many renowned chefs all around the world.
The dal makhani is cooked slowly for a prolonged time giving it a creamy, thick buttery feeling making it a very tasty dish. The intricacies of this dish will be discussed below.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup black lentil
1/4 cup rajma
3-4 cups water
1 tbsp ghee
3 tbsp butter
1 chopped onion
1 cup tomato puree
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp kasuree meethi
1/2 cup cream
1 bay leaf ( whole spices )
1 green cardamon ( whole spices )
INSTRUCTIONS
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Add urad dal and rajma to a large pot and soak in water for about 8 hours
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Drain the water
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Now pressure cook for sometime. Both urad dal and rajma need to be soft.
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Heat ghee and butter ( 2 tbsp ) together in a pot
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Add whole spices and oil fry them till golden brown.
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Then add ginger garlic paste and cook for 1-2 minutes
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Then transfer tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes
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Then add garam masala, chili powder, and salt. Saute them well
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Now add the cooked urad dal into the mixture. Add 1 cup of water and heat in low flame for about 1 hour till the dal thickens
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Add kasoori methi
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Add cream and stir cook for 5-10 minutes
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Adjust the salt.
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Add butter ( 1 tbsp ) and stir well.
Origin and Popularity
This food was first brought out to the public by Kundal Lal Gujral, the founder of the restaurant chain known as Moti Mahal. He made this recipe famous by giving it a thick creamy and buttery texture which is now renowned all over the world.
He was an inhabitant of undivided Punjab during the partition of the Indian sub-continent and moved to India where he opened his famous restaurant chain and gave his famous recipe Dal-Makhani to the world. Due to its creamy, buttery textures, it is a famous delicacy and has earned a lot of praise from people all over the world.
Nutritional value of the dish
This is entirely a vegetarian dish and meat is not included in it whatsoever. This fact makes it more popular for everyone irrespective of their food choices. This food is rich in protein, carbohydrate, fiber, fats, vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C, E, folic acid, and minerals.
Since lots of cream and butter are used in this recipe it is also high in cholesterol. But overall it is nutritionally rich food for everyone.
This recipe is indeed an Indian delicacy. People have traveled to India from far and wide to taste this magnificent recipe. Indeed it is an excellent example of the combination of flavor and food texture and the subtle art of cooking.
This food recipe is a specialty of northern India. It is made from split pigeon lentils and split pink lentils. This north Indian cuisine can be found in roadside restaurants in India and is a specialty there.
This cuisine brings in a combination of lentils and the amazing spices found in India making it a popular food. Like Dal makhani, this recipe also is a beautiful creation from the northern part of India.
This dish is highly famous in India and also the sub-continent region. Since lentils are a staple food in this region, people love this food dearly. Because of sub-continental restaurants in Europe and the North America, people there love this food recipe love it too.
This food recipe is known to be available in roadside restaurants (Dhaba) in India. This dish is entirely a vegetarian dish as no meat or fish is used in this recipe. It can be consumed with steamed rice, vegetable, or meat gravy. Vegetarians and people on diets can consume this food because of its nutritional values.
Dal Tadka
What does Dal Tadka mean
Hindi term for Dal is lentils.
Tadka is a Hindi term for tempering. This technique is mostly used in preparing Indian cuisine.
INGREDIENTS
Toor Dal
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp ginger chopped
1 tbsp garlic chopped
1 tbsp onion
3 green chilies chopped
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Kasoori Methi
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp Garlic
5 Dry Red Chilies
Cilantro ( Coriander )
INSTRUCTIONS
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Add dal, turmeric, salt and water to a pressure cooker. Mix well and pressure cook for a few minutes.
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Heat ghee in a pan.
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Add cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, onion, green chilies and saute for a few minutes till onions are golden brown.
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Now add tomatoes, red chili powder, kasoori methi, coriander leaves and mix well
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Now add the pressure cooked dal and water to the mix and saute for a few minutes
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Add garam masala to the mix.
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Cover the lead and cook for a few minutes. Dal is prepared
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Now I will prepare the tadka
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Heat ghee in a new pan
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Add cumin seeds and hing to the new pan
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Now add garlic and dry red chilies to the the new pan. Cook till the garlic turns brown.
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Now add the tadka to the newly prepared dal.
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Dal Tadka is now ready