Urad Chana Dal Maa Chole Ki Dal A Delicious Indian Lentil Curry Recipe

The dish which I am sharing today is another very simple and delicious lentil dish that is a specialty of North India. This dish is called Urad Chane ki dal in most of the North Indian states except Punjab and Himachal where it’s known as Maa or Maah Chane ki dal. Next week, we will be shifting to a new house plus a lot of other things are also happening simultaneously because of which we are crazy busy these days. Most of our days start at 05: 00 am and we don’t get the time to relax till 1: 00 am so we end up eating out every night. Too tired to explore vegetarian options after an extremely hectic day these days we generally eat at Indian restaurants only as the cuisine is familiar to us. After eating at these restaurants continuously for the last 2 weeks, I have realized that most of the Indian restaurants use the same spices in every dish, generally an overdose of garam masala which overpowers the other delicate flavors of the dish so almost every dish tastes the same. It’s not something which we Indians eat at home every day. And, because of such restaurants, a lot of non-Indians think of Indian cuisine as something over spicy, hot, deep-fried, and overloaded with garam masala. On the contrary, the home-cooked Indian food is very delicious, healthy, light, moderately spiced, and perfectly balanced. Of course, there are few dishes which are richer and spicier than the others but they are also not eaten every day and are reserved for special occasions, weather, and moods. Today’s recipe Urad Chana dal is one such simple and easy lentil recipe which is cooked in Indian homes quite often.

What is Urad Chana dal?

Urad Chana Dal is a mixed lentil recipe from North India which is made using two different types of lentils –Urad dal (split black lentil) and Chana dal (split Bengal gram). This dish is prepared by cooking these two lentils together and then tempering it with sauteed onion, tomato, and spices.

How to serve?

This dish can be served with rice as well as roti or any other Indian bread. You can also serve a simple Indian salad like Kachumber salad on the side.Squeeze some lime juice and enjoy as a delicious Indian lentil soup.If you have some leftover dal, just knead it with some flour, extra seasoning and use the dough to make parathas (Indian flatbread)

How to cook Maah chole ki dal without a pressure cooker?

If you regularly cook Indian food at home then having a pressure cooker is a must. You can also use an instant pot to make this recipe. However, even if you don’t have either of these appliances, you can still make this dish in a normal pot. That’s the traditional way of cooking this dal. Just wash and soak the lentils in water for at least 2 hours and then cook on low to medium flame around an hour or till the lentil gets nicely cooked and reaches a nice creamy consistency. The rest of the process will remain the same. Traditionally ghee (clarified butter) is used in this dal but since I am making it vegan, I have used mustard oil. If you are not vegan, use ghee to get the authentic taste.