This Bengali Cholar Dal is nutty with chana dal or split chickpeas, and it has an assertive but exquisite sweetness from coconut and raisins. It's a delicious, unique and comforting dal that's usually served at celebratory meals, but its simplicity makes it a great weeknight recipe.
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This Bengali Cholar Dal is nutty with chana dal or split chickpeas, and it has an assertive but exquisite sweetness from coconut and raisins. It's a delicious, unique and comforting dal that's usually served at celebratory meals, but its simplicity makes it a great weeknight recipe.

What is cholar dal"

Cholar dal (chhola'r dal) is a Bengali style lentil recipe made with chana dal or split chickpeas ("chhola" in Bengali), coconut, jaggery and raisins. Bengalis also refer to it as narkel diye cholar dal, meaning chickpea dal with coconut, or niramish chholar dal, meaning vegetarian cholar dal.
The dal has an assertive sweetness from the fried coconut, raisins and jaggery, along with spiciness from chili peppers, which makes it unique even among a plethora of Indian dal recipes.

Recipes for Cholar Dal almost always start off by alerting you that this is a dish for special occasions, served at Bengali weddings or other celebrations. Its simplicity, though, tempts one to break that hallowed tradition and label this a dal perfect for weeknight meals. It is one of my favorite Bengali recipes and I'm...