Thursday, June 25, 2009

Chana Dal

A simple dal recipe that I recommend pairing with many of the vegetable and meat dishes on this blog.
 
Materials:

- 1 cup chana dal (Bengal gram)
- 3 cups water
- 2 cm (about 3/4 inch) piece of adrak (ginger), peel and slice
- 1/2 teaspoon haldi (turmeric) powder
- salt
- garam masala

Preparation:


Soak dal in water for about 1 hour. Then add haldi, adrak, salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer till dal is cooked (about 30 minutes, but could vary depending on the brand). Stir once or twice while cooking. When done, stir well.

For finishing: heat ghee (or oil) in a small pan. Add one small onion (chopped fine), 1 clove garlic (mashed), 1/4 teaspoon zeera (cumin seeds), pinch of heeng (asafoetida) and one green chili pepper (sliced; optional; you can also use dry red chili peppers). When this mixture is fried, add on top of dal and serve.

Serving:


Goes well with rice, any type of bread and vegetables. Chana dal also complements well the spicier spectrum of Indian food.

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About Me

I was born and raised in India and attended school and college there. In May 2007, I completed my PhD (in Neuroscience) at the Center for Neural Science at New York University and stayed on there as a postdoctoral fellow until early 2009. Currently (as of 2025), I am in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University.