This Bengali Cholar Dal is nutty with chana dal or split chickpeas, and it has an assertive but exquisite sweetness from coconut and raisins. It’s a delicious, unique and comforting dal that’s usually served at celebratory meals, but its simplicity makes it a great weeknight recipe.
What is cholar dal?
Cholar dal (chhola’r dal) is a Bengali style lentil recipe made with chana dal or split chickpeas (“chhola” in Bengali), coconut, jaggery and raisins. Bengalis also refer to it as narkel diye cholar dal, meaning chickpea dal with coconut, or niramish chholar dal, meaning vegetarian cholar dal.
The dal has an assertive sweetness from the fried coconut, raisins and jaggery, along with spiciness from chili peppers, which makes it unique even among a plethora of Indian dal recipes.
Recipes for Cholar Dal almost always start off by alerting you that this is a dish for special occasions, served at Bengali weddings or other celebrations. Its simplicity, though, tempts one to break that hallowed tradition and label this a dal perfect for weeknight meals. It is one of my favorite Bengali recipes and I’m so excited to share it with you.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy recipe. The cholar dal recipe has a slightly long ingredient list compared to this Bengali dal with panch phoron. But it too takes just a few minutes to make after you’ve cooked the lentils. Get spices out of a jar, toss them into the saucepan, and you’re done. All that deliciousness for so little work!
- Uniquely delicious. The mix of sweet and spicy makes this a dal to relish. Kids will love it and you will find yourself making it again and again.
- Nutritious. Lentils are great for you, of course, and even the sweetness in this dal comes from healthy sources–jaggery, an unrefined brown sugar, raisins and coconut. Like all dals, this chhola’r dal is loaded with fiber and protein.
- Soy-free, nut-free, vegan and gluten-free. This dal will work for most diets.
Ingredients
Check recipe card below for exact quantities of all ingredients.
- Chana dal (chhola/Bengal gram dal). Chana dal or split chickpeas come from brown chickpeas, not from the beige chickpeas we also call garbonzo beans.
- Bay leaves. These are added to the lentils as they cook and they impart a subtle but delicious aroma.
- Oil. Any neutral oil, including avocado oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil or peanut oil, is fine. Use mustard oil if you have it because it’s what would be used by a Bengali cook. Always allow mustard oil to heat to the point where it’s smoking gently before adding the mustard seeds to it.
- Spices: Turmeric, black mustard seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, ground cumin, ground cardamom, dried red chili peppers and garam masala.
- Ginger
- Raisins. Golden raisins are ideal, but black raisins will do.
- Fresh coconut or dried coconut. You will need small slivers of coconut for this recipe. You can find fresh coconut at health food stores like Whole Foods and some supermarkets. Dried coconut, called “kopra,” can be found at Indian grocery stores. Either will work in this recipe. But if you can’t source them, use ¼ cup of coconut milk instead and add it toward the end of cooking.
- Jaggery. This is an unrefined sugar. Piloncillo is a great substitute. Or use coconut sugar or any brown sugar.
Serving suggestions
- Cholar Dal is typically eaten with luchis — small, puffy, deep-fried breads made of refined flour. You can serve the cholar dal with pooris, which are very similar but are made with whole wheat flour, which makes them healthier.
- You can also make rotis to scoop up the dal with.
- Serve the cholar dal with rice and with a vegetable side like Aloo Posto and an Indian lime pickle.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to four days.
- Freeze: Place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to four months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat the dal in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add a little water and check for salt if needed.
Recipe FAQs
This is a Bengali chana dal recipe and chana dal is the star here. You simply won’t get the true flavor and experience of a cholar dal without it. Sorry, but this is not an ingredient you can substitute in this dal.
Although it has some jaggery and raisins in it, these are unrefined sugars and the dal is very healthy. It has just 137 calories, four grams of protein and seven grams of fiber in each serving.
Sure. To make an Instant Pot cholar dal, use the saute function for steps 2 and 3. Add the uncooked, washed chana dal to the liner with three cups water and cook for 10 minutes on manual pressure. Let the pressure release naturally or force-release after 10 minutes. Remove lid, return Instant Pot to saute function, and continue with step 5.
More Indian dal recipes
If you love this cholar dal, check out other Indian vegan recipes at Holy Cow Vegan!
Cholar Dal
This Bengali Cholar Dal is nutty with chana dal or split chickpeas, and it has an assertive but exquisite sweetness from coconut and raisins. It’s a delicious, unique and comforting dal that’s usually served at celebratory meals, but its simplicity makes it a great weeknight recipe.
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Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 137kcal
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Instructions
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Wash the lentils. Add turmeric powder and bay leaves. If you are using an Instant Pot, cook the lentils with 3 cups water on manual pressure for 10 minutes. In an Indian style pressure cooker cook them for four whistles. If using a saucepan, soak the lentils for several hours first. Discard the water, add fresh water to cover the lentils by a couple of inches, and bring to a boil. Let the lentils cook at a simmer, covered, until they are soft and tender but are still holding their shape.
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In a saucepan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and, when they sputter, add the cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and red chili peppers. Saute a minute until the cardamom looks puffy, then add the slivers of coconut, if using, and saute until the coconut is lightly golden brown. Watch carefully because coconut can burn quickly.
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Add the raisins and ginger, saute for 30 seconds, then add the coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix.
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Pour in the cooked lentils or dal with a cup of cooking stock or water. Mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and let the lentils simmer for 10 minutes.
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Add the jaggery and mix it in. Follow with the garam masala. Mix well and let the dal simmer for five more minutes. It should have a rather thick consistency with little visible liquid. Serve hot with steamed rice or poori.
Recipe notes
- If you can’t source fresh coconut or dried coconut, use ¼ cup coconut milk instead. Add it to the saucepan after the garam masala and just before you turn off heat in step 5.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to four days.
- Freeze: Place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to four months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat the dal in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add a little water and check for salt if needed.
Nutrition
Calories: 137kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 39IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2mg
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