Ready to enjoy the cozy flavor and filling nutritional benefits of this easy chana dal recipe? Learn how to make this tasty, delicious Indian/Pakistani-inspired recipe.
What is chana dal?
Chana dal is a delicious, comforting, simple curry dish inspired by the traditional dal found in Indian and Pakistani dishes. The taste of dal differs by region, but the inspiration for this particular dish hails from the Indian subcontinent.
“Chana” is chickpeas, and “dal” is split lentils, peas, or chickpeas. Therefore, chana dal is split chickpeas in soup or curry form! For this dish, chickpeas are split and polished, resulting in a different texture and feel than whole chickpeas (while maintaining the same health benefits).
I absolutely love to cook this dish when I’m in the mood for something warm and savory. The ingredients used make this recipe a perfect dish for western home chefs looking for a taste inspired by (not authentic to) Indian food.
Reader rating
“Just made this with red lentils, absolutely delicious 😋. Thank you so much x” —Christine
Nutritional benefits of chana dal
This easy chana dal recipe is a surprisingly healthy option. Delicious and nutritious? I’ll take it. Check out the benefits of this vegan meal.
- Protein: This dish is a fantastic source of protein. Each serving contains 5.9g. When eaten together with rice, it becomes a complete protein, meaning the combination contains all of the essential amino acids.
- Fat: This recipe is low in fat and contains just 8.7 grams.
- Calories: With only 187 calories per serving, this filling dish is a great filling yet low calorie meal.
Ingredients needed to prepare this curry dish
This delicious vegan dish consists of just 9 ingredients, and that includes water, salt, and spices! This dish only requires about 4 “main” ingredients, making it a pretty simple and low-maintenance option.
- Dried Chana Dal: For this recipe, we’ll be using dried chana dal, which consists of split chickpeas.
- Olive Oil: Olive oil will be used to grease our pan and help the spices soak into the main ingredients.
- White or Yellow Onion: You can use either type for this recipe. Choose your favorite!
- Ginger: Any recipe that requires ginger is a winner in my book! Ginger will help to season this dish.
- Garlic: Of course, we can’t forget the garlic! Like with the ginger, using garlic will add major flavor.
- Garam Masala: To give this meal its Indian-inspired flavor, we’ll be using garam masala. (Make your own with this quick Garam Masala recipe!)
- Diced Tomatoes: Diced tomatoes are used to add some hearty umami to this recipe.
- Salt: I like to use ¼ tsp of salt for this recipe, but you can use as much or as little as you’d like.
- For Serving: When it comes to serving this dish, I love to do so with rice and a squeeze of lemon. It’s also delicious with a bit of yogurt on top!
How to make chana dal
This is one of the easiest chana dal recipes ever. The cooking instructions basically consist of just four parts, and it truly couldn’t be easier. Though 1 hour and 45 minutes are required, most of that is spent letting the chana dal soak!
- Soak: Add chana dal to a pot and cover with water. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours (or 8 hours, if starting in the morning before work). Strain before using.
- Base: Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet or pot, then add onion, ginger, garlic, and garam masala. Cook until onion is softened and fragrant (about 3 minutes), then add the whole can of diced tomatoes, strained chana dal, and water.
- Cook: Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until chana dal is soft enough to be pinched between two fingers (about 25 to 40 minutes). Add more water, as needed, until chana dal has cooked through. Season with salt, taste, and add more salt/garam masala as needed.
- Serve: Serve warm with rice, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and fresh cilantro. I also love it with a dollop of plain yogurt and some homemade naan!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll also love these!
And if you’d like a fresh vegetable side dish to pair with your chana dal, choose from these spring roll options:
- Vegetable Vietnamese Spring Rolls
- Southwest Spring Rolls
- Vegan Rainbow Spring Rolls
- Thai Green Curry Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chana dal (split chickpeas) can sub whole chickpeas*, 200 g
- 2 Tbsp olive oil 30 mL
- 1 white or yellow onion finely diced
- 2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes 400 g
- 1 ½ cups water 355 mL
- ¼ tsp salt
- To serve: rice, lemon, cilantro, yogurt
Instructions
- Soak: Add chana dal to a pot and cover with water. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours (or 8 hours, if starting in the morning before work). Strain before using.
- Base: Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet or pot, then add onion, ginger, garlic, and garam masala. Cook until onion is softened and fragrant (about 3 minutes), then add the whole can of diced tomatoes, strained chana dal, and water.
- Cook: Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until chana dal is soft enough to be pinched between two fingers (about 25 to 40 minutes). Add more water, as needed, until chana dal has cooked through. Season with salt, taste, and add more salt/garam masala as needed.
- Serve: Serve warm with rice, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and fresh cilantro. I also love it with a dollop of plain yogurt and some homemade naan!
anthony millington says
Loved this! Ace!!!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Anthony! 😀
Tash says
Made this for dinner and it turned out great. Added in 1tps cumin, 1/2tsp curry powder, 1/2tsp turmeric, 1tsp coriander and instead of water added chicken stock. Awesome for a white girl ‘indian’ dinner. Served with rice, steamed broccoli and cauliflower. All my kids loved it too and they’re 3 and 1 year olds.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Tash! Sounds delish with those additions! 😀
Sarah says
I really loved this. I did add a few boneless chicken thighs for my partner, but otherwise I followed the instructions. Very flavorful. I made 1.5x the recipe so I could be sure to have extra leftovers.
This will definitely be in the regular rotation.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Sarah! 😀
Denise says
Love this! Easy to make, delicious and healthy-ish. I added the spices Tash suggested and am so glad I did. Greek yogurt on top, rice and I’m full for hours.
Sally McCarley says
I was so disappointed in this recipe–I soaked my split chick peas for 8 hours, and cooked them for 2 hours but still not done so into the instapot for 30 minutes…still not done and very little flavor. Ruined my dinner and my mood.
Mr Simon Feasey says
Sounds like you used dried Chana Dal and/or they were past the use by date/stored in a non-air-tight way. The flavor comes from the spices, so you didn’t use enough. “Real” Chana Dal uses Cumin, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Red Chili, Garlic and Ginger. I only see garlic and ginger mentioned in this recipe, and they are the least used in Pakistani Chana Dal – I use powdered spices, so if you put in 1TBS of garlic and ginger, you should use 1.5TBS Red Chili, 1.75TBS Cinnamon, 2TBS Black Pepper and 1-2TBS Cumin – Don’t be put off this great meal by a “white-washed” version of the recipe
Mr Simon Feasey says
I forgot to mention “Garam Masala” – Garam means Hot and Masala means Spices – There is no universally agreed product that is “Garam Masala” its just a mix of Some/All of these spices in varying quantities · Cumin · Coriander · Cardamom · Black pepper · Cinnamon · Cloves · Nutmeg – i personally NEVER use garam masala as i cant stand cloves.
Products labelled Garam Masala can vary from brand to brand/country to country – Its kind of like saying Gravy is an ingredient!!
Ethan says
Its…..ok. need a lot of doctoring with the spices to make it truly bursting with flavors like indian cooking does. Work within the spice wheelhouse and other comments who suggest other additions to really make this dish pop
Christine says
Just made this with red lentils, absolutely delicious 😋. Thank you so much x