How about a warm, comforting meal for dinner tonight? The warmth of ginger, turmeric, and coriander, combined with green chilies and a dash of cayenne bring a taste of India to your table. The creaminess of Chana Dal contrasts nicely with crisp zucchini for a dish that you’ll want to snuggle up to on these cold winter nights. Serve this hearty, heart-healthy dish with some warm Naan for an easy, satisfying dinner. 

Chana Dal with Zucchini

This recipe is adapted from Complete Book of Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani.

•      1 cup Chana Dal Beans
•     2 Tbsp Oil
•     1-1/2 Tbsp Ginger Root, peeled and minced
•     2 tsp Green Chilies, minced
•     1 cup Onions, finely chopped
•     3 cups Zucchini, chopped
•     1 tsp Coriander powder
•     1/2 tsp Salt (or to taste)
•     1/2 tsp Tumeric
•     1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
•     14 oz canned Tomatoes, diced (with juice)

Directions

Soak chana dal in 2 cups cold water for 20- 30 minutes. Rinse and drain.

In a small sauce pan, heat oil over medium- high heat. Add ginger and chilies

and sauté for 1 minute. Add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, 6 to 7 minutes.

Add zucchini and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the coriander, salt, turmeric, and cayenne. Mix well and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes making sure not to burn the spices.

Add the tomatoes with juice and chana dal with 2 cups water. Stir well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer, covered. Stir every 10 minutes, until chana dal is soft. This should take 20-25 minutes depending on how old you chana dal is.