Below recipe by Dassana Amit

Ingredients:

for soaking chana dal

• 1 cup chana dal (husked and split bengal gram)

• 1.5 cups hot boiling water for soaking

for cooking chana dal

• 2.5 cups water for pressure cooking

• ½ teaspoon salt

for tempering

• 2 tablespoons oil, can use peanut oil, sunflower oil or coconut oil

• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon urad dal

• 10 to 12 curry leaves

• 1 to 2 dry red chillies, broken and seeds removed

• 1 generous pinch asafoetida (hing)

• salt as required

• ¼ cup fresh coconut

Instructions:

• soaking chana dal

• Rinse 1 cup chana dal in water for a couple of times. Take the lentils in a bowl and add 1.5 cups hot boiling water. Cover and soak chana dal for an hour.

• Later drain all the water.

• cooking chana dal for sundal

• Add the soaked chana dal in a pan and add 2.5 cups water.

• Also add ½ teaspoon salt and stir.

• Keep the pan on stove top.

• Cover with lid and on a medium-low to medium flame begin to cook the chana dal. Alternatively, you can cook chana dal in pressure cooker for 1 whistle.

• When the water starts frothing, remove the lid and cook chana dal without lid on medium flame.

• Do check at intervals when the chana dal (kadalai paruppu) is cooking.

• Cook the lentils till they are cooked perfectly and still retain their shape. Taste a few lentils to check if they have cooked well.

• Then drain all the water and keep the cooked lentils aside.

• making chana dal sundal

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in another pan or kadai. Keep flame to a low and add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon urad dal.

• On a low flame stirring often fry both mustard seeds and urad dal.

• Fry till the mustard seeds crackle and the urad dal turn golden.

• Then add 10 to 12 curry leaves, 1 to 2 dry red chillies and 1 generous pinch asafoetida (hing).

• Mix and fry for a few seconds till the red chilies change color.

• Now add the cooked chana dal or kadalai paruppu.

• Add salt as per taste.

• Mix very well and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes on a low flame. If there is any moisture or liquid in the chana dal then cook till the moisture gets dried.

• Lastly add ¼ cup fresh coconut.

• Mix and switch off flame.

• Serve chana dal sundal. You can garnish with some fresh coconut or a few coriander leaves if you want.