East Indian
Cholar Dal (Bengal Gram with Coconut)
Cholar Dal (Bengal Gram with Coconut) is East Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre, the protein alongside, and the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal (split Bengal gram)
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Soak the chana dal in water for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse well.
- Simmer the dal with the water, turmeric, and half the salt until soft but still holding its shape, about 25 minutes, skimming any foam.
- Heat the ghee in a small pan and temper with the bay leaf, dried red chilies, and cumin seeds until fragrant.
- Stir in the ginger and grated coconut and toast for a minute until lightly golden.
- Pour the tempering into the cooked dal along with the raisins, sugar, and remaining salt, and simmer together for 8 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Serve warm as the special weekend dal, the thicker, sweeter cousin of everyday musur dal.
Serve it with
A East Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Cholar Dal (Bengal Gram with Coconut), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Cholar Dal (Bengal Gram with Coconut) carries dairy and coconut. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | Yes | Aloo Posto (Potato in Poppy Seed Paste) |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | Yes | Aloo Posto (Potato in Poppy Seed Paste) |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses, Nuts and seeds, Dairy, and Fruit
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Cholar Dal (Bengal Gram with Coconut) takes about 45 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on bengal gram and coconut.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from East India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.