Chana Dal
Also known as: split chickpea, cholar dal
What Chana Dal is
Split desi chickpeas: a dense yellow dal that keeps its grain far longer than toor or masoor, which makes it the dal for dishes where the lentil should stay visible — Bengali festive cholar dal, South Indian temperings, and the soaked-and-ground batters behind vada.
The small, dark-coated desi-type chickpea (Cicer arietinum), split and milled clean of its skin — a process that leaves a rounder, thicker grain than split pigeon pea, though the two look related on the shelf. It is not the yellow split pea sold in Western shops; that is a different plant (Pisum sativum), mushier and less sweet. Whole and unsplit, the same bean is kala chana.
Taste and texture
Faintly sweet with a raw-nut edge some cooks compare to fresh corn. The grain stays firm and separate through long simmering, and even fully cooked it has more chew and body than toor dal — it thickens a pot by presence rather than by collapsing.
Forms to buy
- Split, skinless (standard) — The everyday form for dals and batters.
- Oily (tel) chana dal — Coated in a trace of oil against drying, in the Gujarat style; rinse before cooking.
How to cook it
Rinse, then pressure-cook 1 cup with 3 cups water for 4–5 whistles or simmer about 40 minutes; test a grain — it should crush with slight resistance. For Bengali cholar dal, cook only until whole-tender, then temper with cumin, cinnamon, ginger, coconut slivers and raisins; the touch of sweetness is traditional and deliberate. South Indian cooking fries the soaked dal whole in mustard-seed temperings for upma, and grinds it, still soaked, into vada batters.
Buying note
Typically ¥500–¥800 per kilogram. Look for even, maize-yellow grains without chalky dust or shrivelled halves; chana dal keeps longer than most dals because of its density, so a sealed fresh bag stores well.