Chana Dal with Crispy Cauliflower and Peas Recipe

Dal is one of the staple foods of India. Ideally it should have soup-like consistency but there are different variations of dal in different parts of the country. You can add chunky vegetables, koftas and even chicken to your dal in order to make it more interesting. Here, we have discussed the recipe of Chana Dal with cauliflower and peas.
Ingredients

• Vegetable/Olive Oil – 2 tablespoon
• Onion Paste – ½ cup
• Tomato Paste – ½ cup
• Finely Chopped Garlic – 5 cloves
• Grated Ginger  – 30gm
• Soaked Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram) – 200 gm
• Cauliflower – 200 gms
• Peas – 1 cup
• Black Pepper Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Red Chili Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Salt – 2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Coriander Powder – 1 tea spoon
• Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves
• Cumin Seeds – ½ teaspoon
• Bay Leaves – 3
• Dry Red Chilli Pepper – 3
• Water – 600 ml

Method

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add bay leaves and cumin seeds to it. While keeping flame on medium, add ginger and garlic. Stir the mixture till it achieves golden brown colour, then add onion to it and stir. When onion paste turns light brown, add tomato puree. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes on medium flame, before adding salt, coriander powder and garam masala powder.
• Now add dal and water to the spices and mix it well. Tightly close the lid and cook on high flame. Wait till the cooker whistles. After the first whistle, simmer the heat and wait for another 2 whistles.
• Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. You need to sauté the cauliflower and peas. To do that, take a pan and put some oil in it, just enough to grease the pan. Add the cauliflower, peas and deseeded dry chilli pepper to the heated oil. Cook while stirring continuously on medium to high flame after adding little salt and black pepper powder for 2 minutes.
• Now mix dal with the vegetables, sprinkle fresh coriander leaves and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes on low flame. Serve with either hot chapatti or rice. Alternatively, you can serve the vegetables on the side without mixing them in the dal.