Black Chana Sundal is a South Indian snack or tiffin dish served along with coffee/tea made with boiled black chana and seasonings
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Sundal is a steamed chickpea snack with South Indian flavours of mustard seeds, curry leaves, and grated coconut.
This variety of channa goes by the name of Konda Kadalai in Tamil and Kala Channa in Hindi.
You can choose any type of peas like white chickpeas, dried green peas, dried white peas or rajma to make sundal.
Sundal is the most popular dish that one serves at any Navarathri Golu function. Each day, a different variety of sundal is prepared and given to guests who visit as a snack along with coffee or tea.
Ingredients for Black Chana Sundal
The main ingredient for this sundal is Black channa.
The other ingredients are for flavour as a tadka – mustard seeds, split urad dal, curry leaves, asafoetida powder and green chillies.
You will also need a pinch of baking soda to aid the channa cook into a soft texture.
I also use grated coconut to add a fresh flavour to the dish.
How to make Black Chana Sundal?
Soak the dried chana in water overnight. Add the required quantity of channa to a bowl and give it a quick rinse. Add lots of water – at least two inches of water above the soaked channa. They expand a lot and sometimes, if you do not add enough water, some chickpeas might not have enough water to bloom. A lot of water is definitely the way to go. Let them soak in the water overnight or at least for 7-8 hours.
The next morning, you drain the channa and rinse them a couple of times. This step is crucial. If you end up using the soaking water to cook the channa, your stomach might not agree with it. So it’s important that you rinse the soaked channa and use fresh water to cook it in the pressure cooker.
Once rinsed, you can add the dried chickpeas to a bowl, fill it up with water and place it in a large pressure cooker. If you are using a small pressure cooker, you can directly add the washed chickpeas to it, along with enough water to cover it.
Next, add a pinch of baking soda and salt. The soda will aid in the cooking process and yield a soft texture in the mouth when chewing.
Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles on a high flame and lower the flame and allow it to boil for another 5 minutes. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally.
Check if the channa sundal is cooked well by pressing a couple of pieces of them. If they aren’t cooked, put it back in the pressure cooker and cook for 2 more whistles OR low flame for 3-4 minutes. You need the texture of the channa to be smooth when you press them between your fingers, not al dente.
Tempering the Black Chana Sundal
Scoop out the cooked channa into a bowl and season it with a little salt.
Place a tadka pan on low-medium flame and add one tablespoon of cooking oil. Once the oil is warm, add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Next, add the split urad dal and curry leaves. Finally, add the asafoetida powder and turn off the flame.
Add this tadka to the bowl of cooked channa and give all the ingredients a good mix.
This is an optional step, but if you want to add an extra zing to the channa sundal, you can take a handful of grated coconut along with a green chilli and pulse them in the mixer a couple of times. Use this coconut mixture as a garnish for this konda kadala sundal and you will get a mild spice to the dish without it being overwhelming. Garnish with some lemon juice and mix the ingredients until well combined.
If you want to keep it simple, garnish it with freshly grated coconut and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. – This is a simpler step for the beginners.
You can also jazz up the salad by adding grated carrots, pomegranate seeds and fried cashew nuts as well.
Storage and Shelf Life
Konda Kadali Sundal has a good shelf life – on the counter it will last for more than half the day. But if you add grated coconut, it’s best to eat it at the earliest. If you live in a warm place, it is best to put it in the fridge.
You can store Channa sundal in the fridge for up to 2 days. Try not to reheat it several times.
If you are looking for more Sundal Recipes, please click here to find the recipe you are looking for.
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Recipe for Black Chana Sundal
Black Chana Sundal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Black Chana soaked overnight and pressure cooked
For the tempering
- 1 tbsp Cooking oil groundnut oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Split White Urad Dal
- 2 sprig Curry Leaves
- ½ tsp Asafoetida powder
For the Garnish
- 2 tbsp Grated Coconut
- 1 Green Chilli slit
- ½ Lemon juice of half a lime
Instructions
- Take a cup of dried black channa in a container and give it a rise. Fill the container with water 3-4 inches above the white channa. Let it soak overnight.
- The next morning, drain the water and give the channa a thorough rinse. Add fresh water to the same container and place it in a pressure cooker with 2-3 inches of water at the base. Add ½ tsp of salt and a pinch of baking soda to the chana. This will aid in cooking the channa faster.(You can add the rinsed channa directly to the pressure cooker along with water submerging the channa)
- Allow 5-6 whistles and then turn the flame to low, and allow to cook for another five minutes on that low flame. Turn off the cooker and allow the pressure to release gradually.
- Remove the container from the cooker and drain the water into another container. You should press a couple of pieces of channa to ensure it's fully cooked.
- Season the cooked black channa with 1/2 tsp of salt and adjust it accordingly.
Tempering and Garnishing the Kala Channa Sundal
- Place a small tadka pan on low-medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
- Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. Next, add the split urad dal and allow it to turn slightly golden.
- Now, add the curry leaves and let them crisp up.
- Finally, add 1/2 tsp of asafoetida powder and turn off the flame.
- Mix the tadka well and pour it over the cooked black channa. If you are using grated coconut and green chilli for the garnish, add both ingredients to a mixer and pulse grind it 2-3 times.
- Use this coarse coconut mixture as the garnish, along with generously drizzled lemon juice on top.Mix all the ingredients well and serve this Black Chana Sundal as a healthy snack in the evenings.
