Cholar Daal / Chana Daal / Split Chickpea soup

A delicious nutty soup rich in protein and simply cooked to perfection! The daal is cooked with bengali gram or split chickpeas, flavored with ingredients like tomato, ghee and an assortment of spices, then finished off with an aromatic fried mixture of cumin seeds, onions, garlic and dry red chilli. Enjoy this simple dish alongside some luchi or parathas.

Ingredients

Yellow chickpeas 1 cup

Water 2 cups

Oil 2-3 tbsp

Bay leaf 1

Cardamom 3 pcs

Cinnamon 2 stickers

Cloves 3 pcs

Salt to taste

Onion 1/4 cup

Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Garlic paste 1 tsp

Ginger paste 1 tsp

Coriander powder 1/2 tsp

Roasted Cumin powder 1/2 tsp

Tomato cubes 1 medium

Green chilli

Coriander leaves

Ghee 1 tbsp (optional)

Tarqa

Oil 2 tbsp

Dry red chilli 2 pcs

Raw cumin 1/2 tsp

Garlic sliced 1 tsp

Onion sliced 1/4 cup

Directions

Soak daal in water for 2-3 hours.

In a heated pan, add oil, bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, onions. Saute the onions until translucent. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder. Add garlic paste, ginger paste, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder. Stir, mix and sauté all spices together at high heat. Add cubed tomatoes and keep stirring so everything blends well. Add salt to taste. Once the tomatoes have soften, add soaked daal and sauté at high heat for 10 mins. Add little water so nothing burns at the bottom and continue to sauté. This is essential to remove the raw smell from the spices and daal.

After sautéing, add 2 cups of water to cook daal. Using a masher, mash and blend the daal. Once it comes to a boil, cover with lid and let it cook for 15-20 mins at medium heat. Mash the daal further as desired.

In a separate pan, add oil, raw cumin seeds, sliced onions, sliced garlic and dry red chilli. Fry the spices together until the onions are golden brown. Pour the cooked daal into the pan and mix everything together. Bring to a boil, add coriander leaves and grene chilli. Lastly add 1 tbsp of ghee (optional).

Remove from heat and serve hot with luchi or parathas! Enjoy!

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