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  1. Hi dear Veronica.. recipe is good.. question is, can i make daal moong n daal masoor with same recepi? Can i add oil in it?

  2. The slow cooker directions are way off….. 🙁 After 4 hours the dal was only 1/2 cooked. After two more hours on high it was still not cooked all the way and there was WAY too much water (I used 7 cups, as per the recipe). I ended up cooking it down on the stove for almost another hour to get it fully cooked and to be the right consistency.

    • Altitude and age of your lentils/beans affects cooking time. If you have had lentils stored for a long time they often take much longer to cook, similarly if they’ve been sitting in a store for a long time as they get more dehydrated and dry. The best solution is to only buy them when you need to from busy supermarkets so you aren’t buying or storing old lentils or beans that end up taking longer to cook than you expected. Sea level also affects cooking times, so if you live in an higher altitude the air pressure is less and could result in longer cook times.

  3. If I do this in a slow cooker, wouldn’t the acidity of the tomatoes make it hard to cook the split chickpeas? I find if I add any type of tomato to beans trying to cook, they won’t. I also live at 6100 feet so sometimes I have to adjust for altitude. Do you think this is a concern for this particular dish? Thanks!

  4. Thanks for the recipe; I use red lentils, onion, garlic, turmerick, garam masala, chutney and extra chilli, it always goes down a treat.

  5. I love Indian cooking and will try this one.
    One question. Could you clarify: is it lentil, chickpeas or split peas?
    You use “lentil” in the email and “chickpeas” in the recipe. Or is it “split peas”?
    Thank you for your recipes,
    Françoise

  6. I am wondering if you could put all of the larger spices into a cheesecloth bag so it is easier to fish out before eating. Or would this stop some of the flavor from being infused into the chana dal?

    • Yes! You can definitely do that. Just make a little bag so that the spices can move around. I just don’t have any cheesecloth and I hate wasting it so I don’t use it. But it’s easy to do and faster to remove the whole spices at the end.

  7. I love dahl, but I have only ever tried the shop bought Tardka Dahl.
    I will definitely make my own, now that i have the recipe.
    Thanks it looks and sounds great!

  8. Veronica, does this recipe call for Indian chili powder, or Western chili powder like that used to make Texas Chili?

  9. I did not know that was what Chana Dahl was! Too bad it’s a pain for me to get. Chickpeas are easy, split no. = )

    • If you don’t have a local Indian grocery store perhaps there is a Middle eastern grocery store nearby. They should have Chana Dal.

  10. MDH makes a great boxed chana dal masala spice mix, that’s quick and easy: Saute 1 chopped onion in a little water until translucent then add 1 can chopped canned tomatoes, add 1 tbs of the mix and cook 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, cook 1 cup chana dal in the pressure cooker for 8 minutes. Mix the dal and tomato-onion-spice mixture together and simmer 5 minutes. That’s it. I get the mix at the local indian market.
    Love your blog Veronica! Great Recipes. Vive La Belle Canadienne!

  11. i’ve never tried chana dal before. usually i do lentil soup – fast and easy -but i am SOOO bored of my usual!

    i’ll definitely try this: been along time since i tried using cardamon pods in soups, but have been cooking with whole spices, including the whole cumin seeds & cinnamon sticks before. very healthy eating for a rainy day or if you feel a summer cold coming on – its the blend of cloves, cinnamon & mustard seeds, i think.

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