Here is a simple lentil stir-fry/sundal prepared with chana dal or kadalai paruppu—a healthy tea time snack & a popular festive recipe, especially Navratri.
As karthigai deepam is right around the corner, I thought of sharing some of the neivediyam (offering to God) or prasadam recipes. Last year I posted the Pori Urundai recipe, and I explained the festival in the same post.
Today I am going to share one of the simplest neivediyam. It’s the kadalai paruppu or the chana dal (split desi chickpeas) or the Bengal gram dal sundal. Sundal is nothing but legume stir fry. Sundals are not meant only for Navratri, be it any festival, sundals are one of the easiest recipes to prepare.
I have shared few sundal recipes already, but today’s recipe will be quite interesting as the soaking time, and the cooking process is completely different for this recipe.
Bengal gram dal doesn’t require overnight soaking. A minimum of 3 to 4 hours of soaking is sufficient for this sundal. To further fasten the process, you can soak the dal in hot water also. Also, we do not pressure cook the soaked dal as it might turn mushy. We cook the dal in the open pot method and then do the tempering. My MIL adds sugar when the dal is cooking, which makes this into a sweet and savory sundal. But that’s completely optional.
I think I have mentioned this before, sorry to repeat again. :-) These sundals are healthy snack recipes and are perfect during hunger pangs. We don’t need any special occasion to prepare them. Sundals can be prepared as a part of day-to-day cooking. As these are legume-based recipes, you get your daily dose of protein, and these sundals make you feel full also.
As I prepared this for neivediyam, I didn’t include onions; instead went with grated coconut. You can add both or ignore coconut and add onions alone. I have provided the details in the notes section.
How to make kadalai paruppu sundal
Ingredients:
- Chana Dal – 1 cup (the split desi chickpeas / kadalai paruppu)
- Water – as required for soaking and cooking
- Salt – 1.25 tsps (scant)
- Sugar – 1 tsp (optional)
- To Temper:
- Oil – 2 tsps
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Hing – ¼ tsp
- Urda Dal – 1 tsp
- Green Chillies – 2 (break them into 2 pieces)
- Turmeric Powder – ⅛th tsp
- Grated coconut – 3 to 4 tsps
- Chopped Cilantro – 1 tbsp
- Curry leaves – for garnish
Prep – Work:
- Soak 1 cup of chana dal in water for at least 3 hours and drain the water.
Steps:
- In a heavy bottom pan, add the soaked and drained channa dal and sufficient water so that the channa is completely immersed.
- Add salt and sugar (if using) and mix well—cover and cook for about 10 minutes in medium heat.
- Water might ooze out during this process, so mix well for about 3 minutes.
- Now remove the lid and cook till the chana dal is soft and tender. You should be able to smash the dal with your hand, and that’s the right stage.
- Turn off the heat and drain the water.
- Now heat a heavy bottom pan or kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, and hing.
- As they start to splutter, add the broken green chilies and few curry leaves and sauté for a minute.
- Add the cooked dal and turmeric. Mix them well.
- Let it cook until all the moisture is absorbed. Now add the grated coconut and mix well.
- Let it cook for two minutes and then turn off the heat.
Garnish with cilantro and curry leaves. Yummy and healthy channa dal sundal is ready.
Notes:
- Sugar is optional.
- Adjust the salt and spices as your preference.
- Instead of green chilies, red chilies can be added.
- As I included salt when cooking the dal, I didn’t add it during tempering.
- You can also cook the dal in the microwave, but care should be taken as the water overflows.
- If using onion,
- After the mustard seed tempering, add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Then add the cooked dal and follow the same procedure.
Other Sundal Recipes-
📖 Recipe
Kadalai Paruppu Sundal | Channa Dal Sundal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chana dal kadalai paruppu / split desi chickpeas
- 4 cups Water as required for soaking and cooking
- 1.25 tsp Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Sugar optional
For Tempering
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp Hing
- 1 tsp Urda dal
- 2 Green chilies break them into 2 pieces
- ⅛ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1.5 tbsp Coconut grated
- 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped
- 10 Curry leaves
Instructions
Prep – Work
- Soak the chana dal in water at least 3 hours and drain the water.
Steps
- In a heavy bottom pan, add the soaked chana dal and sufficient water so that the channa is completely immersed.
- Add salt and sugar (if using) and mix well. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes in medium heat.
- Water might ooze out during this process, so mix well for about 3 minutes.
- Now remove the lid and cook till the chana dal is soft and tender. You should be able to smash the dal with your hand and that’s the right stage.
- Turn off the heat and drain the water.
- Now heat a heavy bottom pan or kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal and hing.
- As they start to splutter, add the broken green chillies and few curry leaves and sauté for a minute.
- Add the cooked dal and turmeric. Mix them well.
- Let it cook until all the moisture is absorbed. Now add the grated coconut and mix well.
- Let it cook for two minutes and then turn off the heat.
- Garnish with cilantro and curry leaves. Yummy and healthy chana dal sundal is ready.
Notes
- Sugar is optional.
- Adjust the salt and spices as your preference.
- Instead of green chilies, red chilies can be added.
- As I included salt when cooking the dal, I didn’t add it during tempering.
- You can cook the dal in the microwave also but care should be taken as the water overflows.
- If using onion,
- After the mustard seed tempering, add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Then add the cooked dal and follow the same procedure.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
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