Chana Dal Tahiri

In India, one of the best meals made by my mom, grandma and aunts was IMHO almost always some sort of rice pilaf. A one pot meal, made typically with white rice and a combination of vegetables (cauliflower, peas, green beans, carrots, potatoes) or one of a variety of lentils. A Tahiri  is a rice and lentil pilaf and is usually consumed with Indian Mango pickles or with raita, a savory cool concoction made with plain yogurt and spices.  It is perfect on a hot summer day ... when you don't want to sweat it out in a hot kitchen and its almost as perfect on a chilly winter afternoon, when you want the warm feeling of comfort food. Rich in carbohydrates and high in protein, and 100% fat-free, it is indeed the perfect comfort food :) !! My only concession, I made it with white rice instead of brown because that is how I've always eaten it and one doesn't mess with comfort food!

Chana Dal Tahiri

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup White Rice
2. 1/2 cup Chana Dal
3. 3 cups Water
4. 2 tsp Cumin seeds
5. 1/4 tsp Asafoetida (optional)
6. Salt and Pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a pressure cooker and cook under high for 10 minutes. If using a stove-top pressure cooker, allow it to reach full pressure and the reduce heat to medium-low and maintain pressure for 5-7 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes after and then release steam. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper and spicy Indian pickles, or hot sauce, or hot salsa. This dish is rather bland so is great for those days when the stomach needs a rest :) and on other days, the hot salsa adds a nice kick to it!! Enjoy!

Stove Top (sans Pressure Cooker) Directions:

Soak the chana dal overnight, or for at least 3-4 hours in advance. Increase water to 4 cups (3x for rice* and 1x for dal, with some allowance for evaporation). Add all ingredients to a deep pan or dutch oven and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, turn heat to medium, to allow the contents to simmer slowly, without boiling over. Cover 90% with the lid (keeping the lid a tad askew helps!). Allow to simmer for ~10-12 min or so until the rice is tender (pre-soaked dal should cook at the same rate as rice). Turn off heat, and place lid on tight. Add a weight (a few cans of beans) to the lid and let sit for 5-7 min. This is the 'dum' phase - literally it means adding strength. What it does is allow all the flavors to blend, allows the rice to absorb any remaining water and the whole dish becomes fluffy. Enjoy!

* Depending upon the kind of rice (even basmati varieties vary amongst themselves), this may take a few trials before you get the water-rice ratio right! Don't sweat it, even if there is a tad too much water, this dish tastes good! 

Chana Dal w Fennel

Growing up in India, I was exposed to a variety of lentils and each day of the week, my mom and aunts cooked up a new kind of lentil or bean. If you'd like a quick tutorial on lentils, look here. It was always interesting to see how many different recipes they could cook up using the same beans. One of my favorites was Chana Dal. 

Photo Courtest: PhamFatale.com

This lentil can be cooked up with Rice into a pilaf (a holiday delicacy that is cooked up on at least 2 holidays during the year), it can be cooked as a simple dal, it can be added to meat dishes to make stews, and it is often also roasted and spiced as a quick low-fat high protein snack. One of my favorite ways my mom fixed it was in a vegetable stew. Mom would add summer squash or spinach to it, and flavor it with fennel seeds. This is what I've attempted to recreate as a plant-based, no-added-fat version today.  Note that Chana dal is NOT the same as yellow split peas, even though they may look alike to the inexperienced eye. Best place to buy Chana dal is an Indian grocery store, either online, or a regular store.

Chana Dal w Spinach

Prep Time: 30 min (pressure cooker)

Ingredients: 

1. 1 large red onion, diced
2. 1.5 cup Chana Dal, preferably pre-soaked overnight.
3. 2 cups fresh Baby Spinach
4. 2-3 tbsp Tomato Paste 
5. 1-2 tbsp Fennel Seeds
6. 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
7. 1 tsp Red Chili powder, to taste
8. Salt and Pepper, to taste
9. 3 cups of Water.

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook under high pressure for 10 min (or 15 min if, like me, you forgot to soak the beans overnight). Release steam immediately. Beans should be soft to touch and should not hold up to any pressure, although unlike other lentils, Chana dal does retain its shape really well. If using the stove top method, you'll need to simmer on medium heat until lentils are soft.  Garnish with salt and pepper, and freshly chopped cilantro or mint leaves. Serve hot, over Jeera Rice.*

* Jeera Rice: In a separate pot, boil rice and 1 tsp cumin seeds in ample water. Drain. Voila! 

My Assessment: The fennel seeds add a faintly aromatic, somewhat sweet flavor to this dish. Although it looks like almost any other dal preparation, the flavors are unlike any you'll have had before. This dish does not taste like curry at all :) Tony loved it and wants it made again!! That's a success in my opinion!!