Cholar Dal - Durga Puja special

Not in a mood to go pandal hopping during Durga Puja? Bring on the festive mood with some Bengali food. Durga Puja is surely the season to feast for Bengalis. Want to know what a typical Bengali feast can look like? And are you thinking fish? You could be right to some extent. But there’s much more than fish to Bengali cuisine This one is another protein rich dish of Bengali cuisine made on special occasions like Durga Puja, weddings etc. Cholar Dal (lentil) or chana dal with Luchi (Bengali style deep fried puffed bread) is a combination which can make any Bengali salivate heavily.

Preparation Time: - 30 min

Cooking Time: - 30 min

Servings: - 5~6 persons

Ingredients:-

1. 1 ½ cup Chana Dal (cholar dal / Bengal gram)
2. ¾ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
3. 4 tablespoons sliced Fresh Coconut
4. 10~15 Raisins ( You can use any raisin but I prefer sultana which is smaller in size and with less sugar content – so healthy)
5. 8~10 Cashew nuts
6. 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
7. ½ teaspoon of Asafoetida (hing), optional
8. A little Cinnamon
9. 3 Cloves
10. 3 Green Cardamoms
11. 1½ teaspoon Ginger paste
12. 1 Dry Red Chilli
13. 1 Green Chilli, slit vertically
14. 1½ teaspoon Sugar or to taste
15. 3 tablespoons Oil ( I prefer Mustard oil but sunflower can also be used for health conscious people)
16. 1 ½ teaspoon Ghee
17. Salt to taste
18. Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
19. Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
20. Bay leaf – 2~3 nos.
21. Sufficient Water

Preparation:-

 

1. Wash and soak chana dal in water for 30 minutes.
2. Drain water and put the soaked pulses along with turmeric powder and salt to a pressure cooker. Add ample water so that the dal remains 1 cm below water level. Cook till pressure cooker gives 4 whistles in medium flame. Turn off flame and let the pressure cooker cool.
3. Now open the lid and put ginger paste, cumin and coriander powder, green chili and sugar. Mix thoroughly and keep aside.
   
4. Heat oil and ghee together in a small pan over low flame. Add sliced coconut and cashew nuts and shallow fry them until coconut slices turn light brown. Drain excess oil and keep aside in a plate.
   
5. In the same pan add cumin seeds, asafoetida, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms and dry red chilli and sauté for ½ min.
   
6. Add cooked dal, fried coconut slices, fried cashew nuts and raisins. Put some more ghee. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium flame. You may need to add some water according to your choice.
   

Try this hot with Luchi, Puri or Kachori. It goes well with fried rice or even Roti.