Chana Dal Karela is a tasty, healthy, and yet unique combination of split Bengal gram and bitter gourd. Chana dal is such a versatile lentil that absorbs all the flavors with which it has been cooked. Bitter gourd can be cooked in several ways, especially the fried ones that go best with dals or lentils, but when both are cooked together, they taste uniquely tasty, absorbing each other’s flavors
This dish is regularly cooked in several states in India, especially in Chhattisgarh, Punjab, UP, and West Bengal. As we like to cook both dishes separately, but this time, I decided to cook them together as a single dish to make Chana dal karela
To make this dish, chana dal and karela are cooked separately as a first step, and finally combined by giving them the tadka/tempering of a few aromatics like onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and green chilies
Prep Time – 30 minutes (prep time includes soaking of chana dal)
Cook Time – 30 minutes
Course – Main
Cuisine – North India, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal etc.
Author – Bharti Dhawan
● INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
• Chana Dal/Split Bengal Gram – 1 cup (150 g)
• Karela/Bitter Gourd – 2-3 nos.
• Hot water – 3 cups (same cup with which chana dal is measured)
• Onions – 2 large sized
• Tomatoes – 2 medium sized
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Garlic – 4-5 cloves
• Green chilies – 1-2 nos. / to taste
• Mustard oil for frying karela – 2 tbsp
• Ghee for tadka to chana dal – 1 tbsp
● SPICES WHOLE AND POWDERED
• Jeera/Cumin – 1 tsp
• Ajwain/Carom seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Hing/Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp
• Tej Patta – 1 no.
• Red chili powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Salt – 2 tsp/To taste
● PREPARATIONS TO BE DONE
1 – Rinse chana dal nicely and soak it for 30 minutes
2 – Cut onions into thin slices
3 – Chop finely ginger, chilly, and garlic
4 – Chop tomatoes into small cubes
5 – Rinse bitter gourds well under running water and slice each with their skin into thin roundles
● METHOD TO MAKE CHANA DAL KARELA
STEP – 1…. BOILING CHANA DAL
• Add soaked chana dal, water, salt, and turmeric powder to a pressure cooker and cook dal for 15 minutes at low-medium flame
STEP – 2…. FRYING KARELA ROUNDLES
• Heat mustard oil up to the smoking point and fry karela rounds until they get a golden brown colour.
• Remove them from the oil when they are fried crisp. Keep them aside to use later
STEP – 3….PREPARING FOR TADKA/TEMPERING TO CHANA DAL
• Heat ghee in a kadahi and add bay leaves/Tez patta. Add asafoetida, cumin, and carom seeds. Allow them to crackle
• Add onion slices and roast them for a while. Next, add chopped ginger, chilly, and garlic . Roast the aromatics for a minute
• Add all the powdered spices mentioned above(Red chili powder, Coriander powder, and, turmeric powder). Roast the spices with onions for a few seconds
• Add chopped tomatoes and salt at this stage and roast onion-tomato masala until it leaves oil from sides of kadahi
• Add fried karela roundles to the onion-tomato masala and cook them for 2-3 minutes . Bitter gourd slices will absorb the flavors of onion-tomato masala
• Add boiled chana dal at this stage and combine all the ingredients
• Add hot water to the dal karela and allow the dish to cook for 5-6 minutes at low flame by covering with a lid
• Within 5-6 minutes dal and karela will cook to perfection and come together. Karela will absorb all the flavours of chana dal and onion-tomato masala
• Finish Chana dal karela dish with a sprinkle of garam masala for extra flavor.
• The tasty dish is ready to serve. Enjoy this unique preparation with JEERA RICE, ROTI, OR PARATHA
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