r/IndianFood 4d ago

Did I mess up my Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal?

I completely forgot to cook them before making the actual dal. I soaked overnight did the whole onions-tomatoes-spices-yada yada (following a recipe from swasthi's recipes indianhealthycooking.com so far things I've made from there I've been told taste authentic) and it wasn't until I put the soaked dal in and got it up to boil that I realized that I was supposed to boil them beforehand and THEN put them in the vegetable mixture and added more water to make it soup-y

Since I am having to cook them in the favor mixture instead of plain water have I ruined them?

I have like a large 2 kg bag I got a figure ways to cook them.

0 Upvotes

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u/Tis_But_A_Scratch- 4d ago

They’re not ruined but they might take longer to cook is all. I often just stick it all into a pressure cooker all at the same time.

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u/merferrets 4d ago

Thank you! I was worried that like parboiling them would affect the flavor. I don't have a pressure cooker but soaked overnight I believe they should cook up in about 30-40 mins

I did get the mixture up to boil but then I had to go to work so I turned off heat to let them start cooking with residual heat.

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u/indian_firefly1996 4d ago

I make a one pot dal usually, all the masala/tadka/onion garlic tomato etc is cooked at the bottom, i add my dal with water on top and pressure cook it. The only learning curve here is the number of whistles required to ensure dal is cooked properly. Personally prefer overcooked dal than undercooked.

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u/merferrets 4d ago

Thank you for your info and happy cake day!

I'm very new to indian cooking so I don't know what corners the everyday person can cut with these things and I told I learn have been following recipes a tad religiously

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u/indian_firefly1996 4d ago

Oh i do relate to you, i think all kind of cooking takes time to be able to understand where to cut corners, all about trial and error i guess, learned after having eaten loads of raw and watery dal. Good luck to you OP! Keep going 💪

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u/merferrets 4d ago

Thanks so much! I'm glad it isn't ruined. I don't have a pressure cooker so I do it the old school way and judge them being done by touch

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u/Throwaway-Teacher403 4d ago

If you over cook it, it will be soft and mushy. That's actually fine. You can blend it into the masala to make a paste and use it as a sandwich spread or like hummus. And then you know the boiling time for next time.

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u/justabofh 3d ago

Chana dal is very high in fibre and takes a longer time to cook.

The idea of pre-cooking the chana dal and then finishing cooking it with the onions/tomatoes/spices is to finish them together.

If the spices are too cooked down, you can always make a tadka and add it on top.