Chana Dal, New Delhi-Style Recipe (2024)

Hi All! We've removed the video to avoid confusion. If you'd like to see how Julie makes tadka, or how a mathani is used, you can watch the video here: https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/100000001927620/dal-tarka.html

In the video, she is showing Dehusked Masoor daal not Channa daal. The mathani (we call Madaani) is really not required. You can just stir it and slightly blend it, it is not really required. The tadka would be 1000 times better with desi ghee. And I would certainly pour hot tadka sizzle over daal and won't hesitate to mix it. I would also add a pinch of dried proprietary herbs which I won't disclose here (lol....kidding....almost). Other than that, she is right on mark.

Dal is always pedestrian. It is the poor mans chicken. But I would bother cooking in a pan. I would use my instant pot. Soak the Chana for an hour. Cook In High pressure for 15 min. Tadka means seasoning. You can always use some other seasoning. I like onion ginger garlic and tomatoes. Sometime I might add grated carrots or any kind of gourd.

If you read the article, you will find that the author knows ghee is the correct fat to use, but he was in a situation where he was improvising. He acknowledges it isn't authentic, but that it was still tasty. And he tells you where to go to get a more authentic recipe.

Split chick peas or chana daal is easily available through Amazon if you do not have an indian grocery store close by. Instead of wasting forty to sixty minutes on the range, I usually put the chana daal in a pressure cooker (if you have one) with adequate water and cook for six to seven minutes. My daal comes out PERFECT every single time.

Super easy, but in my view VERY bland, and VERY pedestrian. Thousands of better, more interesting dal recipes out there. I won't be making this again.

Also, since the green revolution in India dals are newer bug resistant varieties that, unfortunately, take forever to cook. So all my indian friends now cook dal, or parapu in Dravidian languages, in pressure cooker. I also added 1 tsp crushed fresh ginger, and 1 tsp cumin/jeera seed into the hot ghee. Added the cumin w/clove, ginger w/garlic and lemon after.. My punjabi friends always add tomato. Sometimes i like that, other times lemon, like my Lebanese friends do.

Try this one instead: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7517-masoor-dal-spiced-red-lentils

Making tadka - see video link - add the cumin and onions, maybe the tomatoes, for more flavor. Also - use red lentils and not split chickpeas for the dal.

Yellow split peas works for this dish also. My mother always made dal (or dhal) with yellow split peas. When I make my version, I always add some green split peas to it also.

Can anybody tell me if it would be OK to use an immersion blender instead of the mathani? I'm afraid the blender might be too vigorous. I'm trying to break of habit of buying every cool looking kitchen gadget/tool I see--and darn if that mathani doesn't look like fun!

Did the Instant Pot option and 4 cups water was way too much. I ended up with soup. Need to reduce to 3 cups to get closer to recipe result. Also used butter as some suggested. Given the 1 tsp red pepper flakes, I did not find this dull. Also used maybe twice as much cilantro. On the whole, this was surprisingly good.

I used red lentils and it came out great! Probably fine to substitute.

This "Cooking Dal Tarka" video has shown up on multiple recipe pages that do not match the video. Makes it confusing and unhelpful. I almost bought ingredients for "butter dal/mogul style" but luckily I noticed a mismatch in the ingredients. When I landed on this recipe page I thought I'd found the correct recipe so I'm glad you questioned it also. All I want is the recipe for what I see in the video.

Made according to recipe except for the following: used half ghee and half oil, added a pinch of mustard seeds and asafetida to the hot oil. I still found this quite bland, and my Chana did not shine. It was a quick meal that fed us on a weeknight, but I wouldn't make it again.

I cooked this tonight and had mixed feelings about it. I followed the recipe as best I could and found the Chana daal took much longer to soften than the recipe states. Also, be careful when toasting the garlic in oil as I think I darkened it to much much, making the end result slightly bitter. I would make it again, and with a renewed appreciation for proper execution.

Should I have soaked the Chana dal before cooking? One hour on the stove and the chick peas are still very firm.

All Days should be soaked in water at least for 6-8 hours before cooking them. It makes them easy to digest and also absorb nutrients.

Cloves were the only flavor! Overpowering is an understatement. My stomach hurt all night. NYT rarely fails me .. but this was a BIG miss.

We do not use garlic in daal. The tadka needs onions, tomatoes, whole cumin, ginger.

I don't have a mathani. I just use a big old wooden spoon to stir dal until it reaches the desired consistency. It is quite a calming thing to do - just stirring mindfully until the lentils have broken up just enough to give a creaminess to the final product.

This dull dal could have used some dolling up. I have tried and loved many dals; I understand that they're are simple comfort food. But simple does not equal bland and flavorless. The dal itself could have benefitted from anything to give it a little flavor (onions? garlic? chili? more spices?). Thank goodness the tadka was flavorful. I've removed this one from my recipe box.Love 99% of Bitty's recipes. He gets a Mulligan for this one!

Easy and delicious – a great recipe. Those hoping to benefit from the anti-inflammatory properties of the turmeric may wish to reduce the red pepper flakes and add some ground black pepper. (A compound called piperine that's in the latter is said to enhance the bioavailability of the curcumin in turmeric.) Also, if you grind your cardamom fresh rather than using pre-ground powder, you might want to use less than half a teaspoon so that it doesn't overpower the other flavors.

This makes four full servings for Barbie, Ken and two friends. The picture shows a full pot, reality is a skim on the bottom. Add to this not a particularly flavorful dish. Never again with this one.

Soak the chickpeas overnight with a half teaspoon of baking powder for good results.

For the instant pot, I did 18-20 minutes, natural release, with 3c water. I’d reduce the water to 2.5 next time, since I felt it was a littte soupy. Re: range of times: initial cook was 18 min natural release but after 20 min of natural release, I opened the steam vent and finished depressurizing b/c I wanted to add chopped, raw greens (kale, spinach) and then pressure cooked for another minute with manual release. Also, I’m at elevation, which can impact the cook time (even with pressure).

Add ginger, cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced spinach.Needs extra cup of water close to end

Ginger, spinach cherry tomatoesNeeds extra cup of water near end

Lovely, flavourful and nourishing. I did soak my beans first and added a pinch of asafoetida at the end out of habit. Not authentic but my changes were a tadka "with the lot"... I used coconut oil, panch pora mix, chili flakes, onion, fresh ginger, fresh tomatoes, garlic and salt. Served with basmati and fresh lime - sadly didn't have coriander, this would have taken it to nirvana. Next time!