How to Grow Chana Ki Dal in India | Growing Chick Peas

Growing your own food is always a good idea to enjoy it fresh and free! Here’s everything you need to know about How to Grow Chana Ki Dal in India!

Like vegetables, you can also easily cultivate lentils in India. They take less space and can be easily harvested in pots too! Let’s have a look at How to Grow Chana Ki Dal in India easily!

Check out our article on growing petha vegetable here

---

Chana Ki Dal

Chana ki Dal in English is famous as chick peas. It is rich in protein and many essential nutrients, making it one of the healthiest lentils in India. This tasty dal has a long growing season, requiring up to 90-100 days to reach its harvest from the date of sowing. The plants are fairly easy to take care of and grow easily in the Indian environment.

• Chana dal in Malayalam: Chanakya
• Chana dal in Kannada: Kudure grāṁ
• Chana dal in Telugu: Ulavalu
• Chana dal in Tamil: Kutirai kirām

Botanical Name: Cicer arietinum

Here’s How to Grow Toor Dal In India 

---

How to Grow Chana ki Dal in India?

Growing chana ki dal is really easy from seeds.

• Sow the seeds in the pot or in the ground directly. Make sure to amend the soil with plenty of vermicompost and organic matter.
• Water well and ensure it gets bright and direct light.
• Once the seedlings appear, make sure the plant gets a minimum of 4-6 hours of direct sunlight.
• Do not let the soil go dry completely.

Learn how fertilizers are different than manure here

---

Requirements for Growing Chana ki Dal in India

Location / Sunlight

For the best harvest, the plant needs to get a minimum of 4-6 hours of bright and direct sunlight every day. Do not keep the pot or grow it in a shaded area.

Soil

Amend the soil with vermicompost and organic matter at the time of planting. Make sure the growing medium is well draining.

Watering

Water the plant when the topsoil feels a little dry to touch. Avoid moistening the growing medium daily as it will attract root rot.

---

Chana Ki Dal Care

Fertilization

You don’t have to worry much about feeding the plant if you have used plenty of organic matter in the growing medium. Fertilize chana ki dal using a balanced liquid fertilizer, diluted to half of its strength, once in 5-7 weeks.

Pests & Diseases

Be careful of aphids, leafhoppers, and mites. Use an insecticidal soap solution to get rid of them. Avoid wetting the foliage and overwatering to keep most of the potential diseases at bay.

---

Best Chana Ki Dal Preparations in India

Chana Dal Vada

• Wash and soak chana dal for 2 hours.
• Then, grind until medium coarse texture.
• It should be okay if a few whole dal remains (this would give a nice chunky texture to vada).
• Add onions, green chilly, ginger, curry, coriander, and salt.
• Mix all ingredients well. If the mixture is too moist and it’s hard to shape vadas, add 2-3 teaspoons of rice flour or gram flour to the mix.
• Grease your palms with oil and divide the mixture into 7-8 equal portions. Take each amount of the mix, give it a round lemon-like shape, and flatten it a little by pressing it in-between your palms, to make it pattie-like.
• Heat oil in a deep-frying pan over medium flame. When oil is medium hot, slide 2-3 vadas in oil from the side of the pan, and deep fry them until golden brown and crispy.
• Masala Vadas are ready to serve. Deep-fry remaining vadas. Transfer them to a plate on a paper napkin.

Chana Dal Fry

• Pick and rinse chana ki dal well in running water.
• Soak the dal in water for an hour.
• Add chana ki dal to the pressure cooker along with turmeric powder. Add 2.5 to 3 cups of water to the cooker and stir well.
• On a high heat pressure, cook the lentils for 10 to 11 minutes or 7 to 8 whistles or more.
• Check the lentils. It should be soft and easy to mush with the back of a spoon.
• In another pan, heat oil or ghee. Add the cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds until they splutter.
• Then add the garlic and fry till they become light brown. Now add the onions and fry till they get golden, stirring often. Then also, add the chopped tomatoes, ginger, and green chilly.
• Add all the dry spice powders – turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, asafoetida, dry mango powder, and coriander powder.
• Sauté, often stirring, till the tomatoes soften, and the oil starts to leave the sides of the mixture.
• Pour the cooked chana dal into the sautéed masala mixture. Season with salt according to taste.
• Stir and simmer the dal for 6 to 8 minutes or more until you get medium consistency. The consistency is neither thick nor thin.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve the chana dal hot with some basmati rice or roti or bread.

Chana Dal Chilla

• Grind chana dal to form a coarse paste. Transfer the paste into a mixing bowl and add spinach, fenugreek leaves, carrot, ginger, green chili, curry leaves, and salt. Mix well. Add yogurt and again stir well to form a batter.
• Preheat oil onto a non-stick griddle. Spoon a portion from the batter and spread it out on the grill, making a Chilla of about 4 to 5-inch diameter.
• Drizzle some more oil if you wish to. Cook over a slow flame to avoid burning. Flip and cook the other side as well. After the Chilla is ready, transfer it to a serving plate and enjoy.

Chana Dal Chutney

• Firstly, in a pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and roast ¼ cup chana dal.
• Roast on low flame until dal turns golden brown and crunchy. Now add a few curry leaves and some red chilies.
• Continue to roast until the curry leaves turn crisp.
• Cool completely and transfer to the blender.
• Add ½ cup coconut, small ball-sized tamarind, and ½ tsp salt.
• Blend to a smooth paste adding ½ cup water or as required.
• To prepare the tempering, heat 2 tbsp oil and splutter ½ tsp mustard, ½ tsp urad dal, a few curry leaves, and one dried red chili.
• Pour the tempering over the chutney and mix well.
• Finally, enjoy chana dal chutney with dosa or idli.