Making Channa Dhal: great vegetarian dish served three ways

Channa Dhal is a delicious, nutritious and versatile vegetarian dish. I recently cleaned out my recipe file and found this gem. Unfortunately I don't remember where it came from to give credit.  It is quick and easy to make on the stove or would work well in a slow cooker.

You will find the recipe below but first of all some serving suggestions to whet your appetite.


A simple bowl of dhal topped with plain Greek yoghurt and fresh coriander.

A steamed golden nugget pumpkin stuffed with dhal and topped with cottage cheese and watercress.

Your favourite green leaves filled with dhal, rolled topped with a tangy tomato sauce.  Suitable leaves are cabbage, silverbeet/komastuma red mustard greens, shown here. Whatever is growing in your garden. Bake until leaves are soft.

So are you feeling hungry yet? Here comes the recipe:

Channa Dhal
Ingredients:
2 cups yellow split peas
1 onion, diced
grated ginger
minced garlic
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 red chilli
salt and pepper

Method:
In 5 cups of water, bring split peas, onion, ginger and garlic to a boil. Toss in chopped cauliflower. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Stir in the coriander, turmeric, garam masala and tomato paste. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until split peas are soft.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the mustard seeds, cumin and chilli for 2 minutes.
Add to cooked dhal and season to taste.