Cholar Dal (Chickpea Dal)

The convenience store down the street is wonderful. They're always well-stocked with all manner of useful things. They have a little bit of everything. They have all the usual convenience store fare, of course: chips, pop, candy, lotto tickets. But they also have a small selection of office and school supplies, hardware and tools, and grocery items above and beyond what I'd normally expect for a convenience store, including various spices and dried legumes! The last time I went, they even had a couple of whole coconuts in stock. So I bought one because, well, why not?

TF cracked it open yesterday and we all snacked on it a bit and stashed the rest in the fridge for later. And then I remembered this recipe. One of the only ones in the book that Iyer absolutely insists on fresh coconut for. Many other recipes suggest fresh coconut, but offer reconstituted dried as an alternative -- not so this one!

We're not in the habit of regularly buying coconuts, so I figured now was a good time to get this curry made.

Iyer actually wrote this one using yellow split peas (chana dal). However, as far as I can tell, "cholar dal" actually refers to split chickpeas (also called chana dal). It's all a little confusing and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that both are regularly used for this dish in India. I made it with split peas this time, but I think I'd like to try it with chickpeas next time.

Cholar Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. yellow split peas (or split chickpeas)
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 3 c. boiling water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
• 2-4 Tbsp. ghee
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh coconut

Directions

1. Rinse the legumes well.
2. Place in a pot with 3 c. of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Skim any foam off the surface, stir in turmeric, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~25 minutes.
4. Increase heat to medium, uncover, and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the water has been absorbed.
5. Stir in 1 c. of the boiling water and cook until it's been mostly absorbed (5-10 minutes).
6. Repeat with remaining water, adding it 1 c. at a time.
7. Stir in sugar, salt, and cayenne.
8. Melt ghee over medium-high heat.
9. Add cumin and sizzle for ~10 seconds.
10. Pour hot ghee and cumin into the dal.
11. Stir in fresh coconut and serve!