Name: Coconut and Sultana Chana Dal
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 4-6
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 tsp salt, or to taste; 100 ml warm water; 2-3 tbsp desiccated or freshly grated coconut; 1-2 tsp sugar, to taste; 50 g sultanas; ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more if you prefer it hot); 1 tsp panch phoron/Bengali five spice; 2 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil; 300 g chana dal; 1.6 litres cold water; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 2-3 Indian bay leaves/tej patta

Preparation info

Serves
4-6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
45 min

Appears in

Chilli & Mint

By Torie True

Published 2021

About

This recipe is Bengali by origin and was taught to me in my 20s by my mother-in-law. Chana dal is also known as cholar, Bengal gram and yellow split chickpeas (do not confuse it with yellow split peas, which are completely different and cannot be used here!). This dal has delicate sweet undertones from the coconut, sultanas, and a little bit of added sugar. The thickness is totally up to you. Do not add salt to the lentils until they have softened completely at the end of the cooking proces