Chickpea Dahl
We grow great chickpeas in Australia
Serves
4
Prep Time
10mins
Total Time
35mins
difficulty
easy
This dish is found in the Punjabi region North India and comes in many forms. I love it! It is enrichened with butter (makhani) and can be as hot or as mild as you like.
The beauty of this dish is you can use any legumes or pulses you like. Everything from split peas to lentils works just fine. Australia has many farms that use chickpeas as a rotational crop and we can get them here quite cheap and great quality.
It makes a good accompaniment for other spicy main dishes or can be a meal on its own served with rice.

Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon tumeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tablespoons of dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
- 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 1 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 60 g butter
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
- 300 g chickpeas
- 5 tomatoes pureed or 1 x 810 g tin of crushed tomatoes
Instructions
1. Rinse the chickpeas
- In saucepan add chickpeas and enough water to cover them.
- Then add two more cups of water and add more if needed while cooking.
- Cook until the chickpeas are soft and would mash nicely.
- Remove from the heat and reserve.
2. Heat a heavy based pan over medium heat
- Add oil.
- Add cumin.
- Add ginger, garlic and tumeric.
- Cook stirring for one minute.
3. Add tomatoes
- Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Add butter
- Add chilli powder and garam masala.
- Add salt to your taste.
5. Add the reserved water from cooking the chickpeas
- Cook for about three minutes.
6. Add the chickpeas
- Cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes
7. Crush the fenugeek leaves in your hands
- Mix in.
- Add the fresh coriander leaves
8. Serve
Notes
- You can add either fresh cream or coconut cream at step six.
- If you have a slow cooker, this dish really benefits from hours of slow cooking from step six.
Photo credits: Tamanna Rumee, Dragne Marius | Unsplash