Narkel Diye Cholar Dal (Bengali Style Chana Dal)

Narkel Diye Cholar Dal (Bengali Style Chana Dal) is a traditional Bengali lentil dish prepared from chana dal (Bengal gram lentil), ghee, coconut, and a few spices. It is sweet and savory and is best paired with luchi or steamed rice (vegetarian).

Jump to:

• About Cholar Dal
• Ingredients
• How To Make Cholar Dal
• Pro Tips By Neha
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage Suggestions
• You Might Also Like
• Recipe Card

About Cholar Dal

Narkel Diye Cholar Dal (Bengali Chana Dal, Chholar Dal) is a Bengali delicacy made using split Bengal gram (chana dal), fresh coconut, and a few other ingredients.

Each Bengali household has its way of making it. Some make it Niramish, that is without onions and garlic, and some make it with onions and garlic.

Cholar dal can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, along with luchi (Bengali poori), kochuri, porotta, or polao.

Healthy, easy to make, light on the stomach, and super delicious, this lentil dish has perfectly balanced sweet and savory flavors and is unique from other dal recipes.

This spicy goodness is nutritious as chana is high in fiber and protein.

Make Bengali cholar dal recipe for everyday meals, special occasions, or festivals like Durga Puja.

You can cook the dal in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker or an instant pot. I am sharing both methods in the post below.

This recipe is vegetarian and can be easily doubled or tripled.

I made this recipe in my 6-quart instant pot (or a 3-liter pressure cooker). If you are scaling it, then use a bigger instant pot or pressure cooker. The time of cooking will remain the same.

If you like Bengali recipes, try more from my blog

• Bengali Chicken Curry
• Bengali Aloo Dum
• Bengali Style Veg Pulao
• Jhal Muri
• Kosha Mangsho
• Basanti Pulao
• Bengali Masoor Dal

Ingredients

Dal – Cholar dal is prepared with chana dal (split Bengal gram).

Turmeric powder and salt are added to the dal while cooking.

Coconut – You will need some fresh coconut slices that are fried and added to the dal, to add a unique flavor.

Tempering – This dal is tempered with ghee (or mustard oil), cumin seeds, asafetida (hing), fresh ginger, green chillies, raisins (kishmish), and sugar.

Whole spices like dry red chilies, cloves (laung), cinnamon (dalchini), green cardamom (hari elaichi), and bay leaf (tejpatta) give a lovely flavor to the dal.

You will also need spice powders like coriander powder, cumin powder, and garam masala powder.

You can adjust the green chilies as per your taste.

If you can get your hand on Bengali ghee, nothing is like it. You should be able to get it online or in any Indian grocery store near you.

Use vegetable oil in place of ghee to make this dal vegan.

How To Make Cholar Dal

Cook The Dal

In A Traditional Pressure Cooker

Wash 1 cup channa dal with water a few times and drain the water.

Soak the dal in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes.

Drain the water, add the soaked dal to a pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, and 1 teaspoon salt, and stir gently.

Close the lid and pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

Note – This dal is slightly thicker in consistency and not mushy like other Indian lentils. So please do not add a lot of water to it while cooking.

Once cooked, remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Open the lid of the cooker. The dal should not be mushy after cooking. It should still hold its shape but is cooked well.

In An Instant Pot

Wash 1 cup chana dal with water a few times and drain the water.

Soak the dal in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes.

Drain the water, add the soaked dal to an instant pot along with 2 and ½ cups of water, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, and 1 teaspoon salt, and stir gently.

Close the instant pot lid and set the valve to the sealing position.

Press the PRESSURE COOK button and set the timer to 15 minutes at high pressure.

Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.

Release the remaining pressure manually and then open the lid.

Temper The Dal

Heat 3 tablespoon ghee in a skillet over medium-high heat. 

Once the ghee is hot, add ¼ cup of thinly sliced fresh coconut and fry until golden brown, frequently stirring for even browning. Remove the browned slices to a plate.

In the same ghee, add

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafetida
• 4-5 whole dry red chilies
• 3-4 cloves
• 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 2-3 whole green cardamom
• 2 bay leaves

and fry for 5-6 seconds.

Add 1 teaspoon grated ginger, and 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies and fry for another 5-6 seconds.

Now add

• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder

and fry for 2-3 seconds. Do not over-fry; otherwise, the spices might burn.

Pour the tempering over the cooked dal with fried coconut slices, 2 tablespoon raisins, and 1 teaspoon sugar, and mix well.

Check for salt and add more if needed.

Serve hot.

Pro Tips By Neha

Being a North Indian, adding sugar in savory recipes is a big no-no for me, but trust me, a hint of sugar in this recipe elevates the taste to the next level. So do not miss adding that bit of sugar, however reluctant you are.

No cholar dal is complete without some fried coconut slices garnishing, and a few raisins added.

This dal is supposed to be thick, like a latpati sabzi, so do not use excess water.

Serving Suggestions

This Bengali-style cholar dal is best served with luchi, koraishutir kochori, or radhavallabhi.

It also tastes excellent with steamed plain rice or jeera rice.

For a healthy alternative, serve it with bhakri or jowar ki roti.

Storage Suggestions

This delicious Bengali dal will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days when stored in an airtight container. You can reheat it in a pan or the microwave until nice and warm before serving.

Add water and reheat it well if you feel it has become a little dry after refrigeration.

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