Andhra Style Split chickpeas tempered with spices and herbs. Serve this rice-rasam, stew/ pulus or eat it as a snack.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 2 minutes
  • Cook time: 28 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • 1 cup split chickpeas ((Chana dal))
  • 1 ¾ to 2 cups water
  • ¾ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • 2 tablespoons oil (or ghee)
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal
  • 1 to 2 sprigs curry leaves
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves ((small or 2 to 3 large))
  • 2 to 3 dried red chilies ((broken))
  • 2 to 3 green chilies ((chopped or deseeded if preferred))
  • 1 teaspoon ginger ((grated, optional))
  • 1 pinch turmeric ((optional))
  • 1 pinch hing ((asafoetida, optional))
  • 1 cup coconut ((Fresh or frozen or desiccated coconut))

Method

How to Cook Split Chickpeas

  1. Add split chickpeas to a bowl and rinse it well thrice. Pour 1¾ cups water and soak them for 2 hours.
  2. Begin to cook by bringing the water to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and cook them on a medium high heat.
  3. You will see a lot of froth coming up, if you want you may skim it off using a skimmer or a slotted spoon. If you skim the froth, you will need to pour some boiling water.
  4. When there is very little water at the bottom (about 3 to 4 tablespoons, check pics in the post), add ½ teaspoon salt and mix. Reduce the heat completely and cover.
  5. Cook until the lentils are tender & all of the water is evaporated. Take care not to burn them at the bottom.
  6. Test if they are soft cooked by mashing a few split chickpeas, they should be soft but not mushy. When you eat, it should have a bite to it and fully cooked.
  7. If they are still hard, pour some hot boiling water. At the end, you should have lentils that are perfectly cooked, soft enough, have a bite to them and not mushy.
  8. This step of cooking lentils just takes you about 18 to 20 mins. Prepare the tempering ingredients while the lentils cook.

Temper

  1. Heat oil or ghee in a pan. When it turns hot, add mustard, cumin, urad dal, crushed garlic and broken red chillies.
  2. When the lentils are light golden, add green chilies and curry leaves. Fry them until the chilies are blistered and curry leaves turn crisp.
  3. Optional - If you want you may add ginger, hing and turmeric at this stage. Fry for 30 seconds until the ginger turns aromatic.
  4. Add the cooked split chickpeas and mix well. Taste test. Add coconut and more salt. Turn off the stove and mix.
  5. We love to sprinkle some lemon juice before serving. Serve with rice-rasam, pulusu/stew or plain as a snack.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.