Urad Chana dal / lentil soup recipe
Urad chana dal recipe-A delicious and creamy mix of creamy white urad daal (split white urad lentils) and chana dal (split Bengal gram), with a tempering of onions , ginger , garlic and chillies- healthy and protein packed dish for your yummy meals.
A mix of wholesome lentils (Split urad dal and chana dal)
Urad chana dal is famously known as maa chole ki dal or maa chane ki dal in Punjab. It is a healthy and perfect dal / lentils on days when you do not want to have heavy dinner, and not spend much time in the kitchen cooking.This is a healthy, wholesome, tasty and full of protein.
All lentils / legumes are a staple part of Indian diet, and are regular cooked every week. This one is also a regular dahl in Punjabi households, and tastes best with raw fresh cut onions or even pickled onions, mango pickle, and fresh rotis/ naan/ tandoori roti or rice.
The spices used for simmering and tempering this delicious dal make it really light on your stomach and easy to digest, and for this reason this is mostly had in summers.
Though here in UK, I cook it in winters as well, mostly as a soup to give it to my daughter as it is really healthy for kids as well. Lentils or dal is a great source of proteins, and a power pack of other healthy goodness for all.
The tempering for the creamy and nutty urad chana dal, cooked in pure ghee, cumin seeds, and onion give it a beautiful smoky rustic flavour, that never fails to satisfy your palettes.
If you do not want to have it the traditional Indian way , with Naan / roti, you can even have it as a lentil soup ( as this is really creamy )with accompaniments such as crusty mini cheese bruschetta, garlic breads, toasted and buttered ciabatta, and fresh green salads.
Dal ratio for urad chana dal recipe
For this recipe, you would need a mix of white split urad dal, and chana daal. Both are easily available in all super stores in UK, and asian stores as well.
For the creamy and nutty texture of dal use more urad daal, and less of chana daal. As urad daal dissolves in water, it gives this daal a creamy texture, and chana daal adds the nutty texture to this daal.For this recipe i use 3/4 cup urad daal, and 1/4 cup chana dal.
Preparing the Dal
Wash and rinse both the urad dal (split white lentils) and chana dal thoroughly in water.
If you are making this in pressure cooker it is your choice if you want to presoak it or not.
You can just soak it in fresh water for 10-15 minutes, or cook it straightaway after rinsing properly.
urad chana daal
Add the mix of urad dal and chana dal in 4-5 cups of boiling water.
Add roughly crushed or finely chopped ginger and garlic . You can absolutely use ginger garlic paste.
Also add asafoetida powder, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
Let it pressure cook for 2 whistles, and turn off the heat.
A tip for cooking any dals/ lentils (For Indian style desi dals)
Most of the people add only salt, and boil daal, and add rest of the spices mentioned above during tempering. But my mum cooks most of the daals this way, and even I like cooking all my dal recipes the way . That is cooking the lentils along with ginger garlic and spices.
When the lentils are cooked along with these spices, they absorb the flavours really well, and taste beautiful even without the tempering. This mix can be had as a soup in winters without the tempering. This is not much spicy and has no fat at this point.So if you want no fat daal, it is a great way to have it.Also a great option to serve to babies (a perfect BLW recipe, see details below) and toddlers.
Cooking Chana and Urad dal
Once the dal is cooked, open the pressure cooker, and check the doneness and consistency of the daal.
If you try to crush it using your thumb and index finger, or with the back of the spoon and it crushes easily it is cooked.
urad chana daal
Now add kasoori methi (crushed dried fenugreek leaves),mix it well. Cover it and let the daal simmer on low heat for another 8-10 minutes.
urad chana daal
Cooking Urad chana dal without the pressure cooker
No pressure cooker, here’s an alternative to cook this simple delicious dal recipe in pan without the cooker.
If you do not have a pressure cooker, you should soak the washed daal mix in fresh water overnight or for 5-6 hours, and then cook it with the above ingredients in a covered pan. It takes longer to cook in pan, so you will have to let it simmer for almost 20-30 minutes.
Once the daal reaches a creamy consistency – the urad daal is almost creamy, and chana daal will also be nutty, chewy but tender. Take it off heat.
Then follow the rest of the steps below for adding tadka to dal.
urad chana daal
Preparing Urad chana dal for kids/ infants (Baby led weaning)
At this stage , your daal is completely cooked, and tastes delicious. You can have it without the tempering as a soup. And this is the stage I usually take out a bowl (before tempering ) for my daughter as she does not like it too spicy. Just top it with a tsp of melted ghee (this is optional), and it is a really healthy soup for your kids (mash a bit with the back of a spoon if you are making this as a weaning food, and avoid adding chillies )or even for grown ups who would want it without any spice, and fat.
Preparing Tempering (Tadka / Tarka) for dal
For the traditional Punjabi daal, now is the stage to prepare the tempering.
In hot ghee, add cumin seeds. When these start spluttering, add finely chopped onions, Let it become golden and crispy. Add chopped or slit green chillies.
Cook for a minute.Add Degi mirchi or paprika- this adds a beautiful red colour to your tempering and is not too spicy. Add coriander powder, garam masala, and slit or chopped green chillies.
urad chana daal
urad chana daal
urad chana daal
urad chana daal
Mix well, and add the cooked daal carefully to this hot tempering- be careful as it immediately start splattering.
Mix it, garnish this with fresh chopped coriander leaves, and slit ginger juliennes/ green chillies and ghee.
urad chana daal
Serving Urad chana dal
Serve this dal hot with fresh rotis/ tandoori roti/ naan, accompanied with fresh or pickled onions, salad and pickles.In the below picture, I served this with regular rotis and spinach rotis ( the green ones), along with minced soya vegetable, and fresh salad.
Can you freeze Urad Chana Dal ?
You can absolutely freeze Urad and Chana dal, or any dal for that matter. Store it in a glass container or these Foil containers on the day you cook.
You can freeze the excess dal before you add the tempering. Just separate the boiled cooked daal before adding the tadka . let it cool to room temperature and put it in the freezer.
If you have any leftovers after adding tarka, you can freeze that as well in the same way.
On the day you want to use it , just thaw it in the fridge for 7-8 hours or overnight , and heat it thoroughly before serving. If you think the consistency is too thick, you can add more water , and seasoning and adjust the consistency.
Also once heated , you can add another fresh tempering / tadka of Ghee, cumin seeds and degi mirch powder to make it extra delicious .
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urad chana daal
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Urad(split white lentils) Chana(split bengal gram ) daal recipe/ urad chana lentil soup
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup urad daal (split white lentils) thoroughly washed/rinsed
- 1/4 cup chana daal (split bengal gram thoroughly washed/rinsed
- 4-5 cups water
- salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric powder)
- 1 tsp ginger crushed/ finely chopped
- 1 tsp garlic crushed / finely chopped
- 1/8 tsp hing (asafoetida powder)
- 1 tsp kasoori methi
- 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tsp jeera(cumin seeds)
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2-3 green chillies slit/ chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- coriander leaves chopped- to garnish
Instructions
cooking daal
- Wash and rinse the daals thoroughly in water.If you are making this in pressure cooker you can just soak it in fresh water for 10-15 minutes, or it will be ok if you do not soak it at all.
- Add the mix in 4-5 cups of boiling water.
- Add roughly crushed or finely chopped ginger, garlic.
- Add asafoetida powder, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.Let it pressure cook for 2 whistles, and turn off the heat.
- Once it is cooked, open the pressure cooker, and check the consistency of the daal, you will notice that both the daals have become tender, and if you try to crush it in your fingers, these can be easily crushed using your thumb and index finger.
- Now add kasoori methi (crushed dried fenugreek leaves),mix it well. Cover it and let the daal simmer on low heat for another 8-10 minutes.
Tempering
- Heat the ghee.
- In hot ghee, add cumin seeds.
- When these start spluttering, add finely chopped onions, Let it become golden and crispy.
- Add chopped or slit green chillies. Cook for a minute.
- Add Degi mirchi or paprika- this adds a beautiful red colour to your tempering and is not too spicy. Add coriander powder, garam masala, and slit or chopped green chillies.
- Mix well, and add the cooked daal carefully to this hot tempering- be careful as it immediately start splattering.
- Mix it, garnish this with fresh chopped coriander leaves, and slit ginger juliennes/ green chillies and ghee.
- Serve it hot with fresh rotis/ tandoori roti/ naan, accompanied with fresh or pickled onions, salad and pickles.
Notes
- Most of the people add only salt, and boil daal, and add rest of the spices mentioned above during tempering. But my mum cooks most of the daals this way, and even I like cooking all my daals this way as when the lentils are cooked along with these spices, they absorb the flavours really well, and taste beautiful even without the tempering. This mix can be had as a soup in winters without the tempering. This is not much spicy and has no fat at this point.So if you want no fat daal, it is a great way to have it.
- If you do not have a pressure cooker, you should soak the washed daal mix in fresh water overnight or for 5-6 hours, and then cook it with the above ingredients in a covered pan. It takes longer to cook in pan, so you will have to let it simmer for almost 20-30 minutes.once done, rest of the recipe remains same.Follow the steps for tempering.
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