Kishmish Waale Chane ki Dal

I really liked this curry! The tomatoes, lightly caramelized onions, and sweet raisins (along with all the spices, of course) make for a delightful combination! Definitely a keeper.

Kishmis Waale Chane ki Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 4-5 c. water¹, divided
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 3 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds²
• 1/2 tsp. black cumin seeds
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 4-6 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse and drain the peas.
2. Add 3 c. of the water, bring to a boil, and skim off any foam that forms on the surface.
3. Stir in the turmeric, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, until almost tender (25-30 minutes).
4. Add the remaining 1-2 c. of water and continue to simmer until peas are tender and just starting to break down (~15 minutes longer).
5. Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the onion, raisins, and bay leaves and cook until onion is browned and the raisins are plump (~10 minutes). Transfer to plate and set aside.
7. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. ghee to the now-empty pan.
8. Add the cumin and black cumin and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Add the ginger paste and the garlic paste and cook until colour darkens (2-4 minutes).
10. Add the tomatoes, chilies, salt, and masala and stir to combine.
11. Simmer until heated thorugh and peas are ready.
12. Stir tomato mixture into peas and cook until flavours blend (~5 minutes).
13. Stir in onion-raisin mixture and cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for six cups of water! Three for the initial cooking of the peas, then two that get added later, and one for the sauce. I thought this sounded like way too much, so I omitted the water in the sauce. The finished consistency was still a bit thinner than I would have ideally liked though. I think I would consider scaling the water back even further next time. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for one teaspoon each of regular cumin and black cumin. Neither TF nor I are huge fans of black cumin though, so I usually scale it back a bit and replace it with extra regular cumin instead. ^Back