Narkel diye cholar dal recipe – a traditional Bengali dish of lightly spiced chana dal with coconut. This slightly sweet dal recipe uses bengal gram dal with fresh coconut slices and aromatic spices.
This Bengali chana dal is usually prepared for any festive occasions or for wedding feasts and is one of the special dishes prepared during Durga puja celebrations.
This is a simple no-onion no-garlic dal recipe that is so easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious. It goes well with puris / luchis, chapathis / parathas or rice. We use just aromatic spices in this dish without the usual masalas that we generally use in lentil curries. While ground coconut is generally used to thicken up gravies, this dal has coconut pieces added to it to give a nice texture and a sweet crunch to the dal.
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Lets move on to the recipe for easy Bengali cholar dal.
Narkel Diye Cholar dal | Bengali Chana Dal Recipe
Narkel Diye Cholar Dal recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cholar dal ( split bengal gram dal / chana dal )
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh coconut pieces
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds ( jeera )
- 2 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 inch piece cinnamon
- 2 cardamoms
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 4-5 raisins (optional)
- 2 dry red chillies
- A pinch of asafoetida ( hing )
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Firstly, rinse and soak chana dal in enough water for 1 hour. Drain the water and pressure cook soaked chana dal with turmeric powder and 2 cups water for 5-6 whistles or till it turns soft.
- Meanwhile cut the coconut into thin slices.
- Once pressure is released from the cooker, check if dal is soft and aside.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced coconut pieces and fry them on a medium-low flame till they turn golden brown in color. Set these fried coconut slices aside in a small bowl.
- In the same pan, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms and cumin seeds. Saute till cumin seeds change color slightly.
- Add dry red chillies, grated ginger and asafoetida and saute for a couple of seconds.
- Now add the cooked dal along with salt, sugar, raisins and a cup of water.
- Let the dal cook on a low flame for 7-8 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally.
- Finally add the fried coconut slices. Mix well and let the dal simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Narkel diye cholar dal is ready to be served with luchis or puris or chapathis.
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