Traditional Sundal: Brown Chickpea Sundal & Chana Dal Sundal

Few dishes say festival in a South Indian home quite like sundal. During Navratri, bowls of it are made fresh each evening, offered at the shrine and shared with guests who come to see the golu. But this simple dish of cooked legumes, tempered with spices and finished with fresh coconut, is just as good as an everyday snack. In this episode of Wholesome Living Through Food, Hema Subramanian of The Home Cooking Show makes two classic versions: brown chickpea sundal and chana dal sundal. Both are protein-rich, quick to put together and made without onion or garlic.

What makes a sundal

Every sundal follows the same pattern, which makes it easy to adapt to whatever legume you have:

1. A cooked legume: chickpeas, chana dal, peanuts, green gram, black-eyed peas and so on. It should be tender but whole, never mushy.
2. A tempering (tadka): mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin, dried red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves crackled in hot oil.
3. Fresh coconut: grated over the top, or ground coarsely with green chilli and ginger.

The result is warm, savoury and lightly spiced, with a protein-rich legume at its centre. It makes a satisfying snack rather than an empty one.

Recipe 1: Brown chickpea sundal

The full ingredients and method for this version are in the recipe card above. A few notes from the video:

• Soak overnight. Brown chickpeas (kala chana) are firm and need a long soak. They should look visibly plumped up before cooking.
• Salt the cooking water. Adding a little salt to the pressure cooker seasons the chickpeas all the way through, so check before adding more at the end.
• Raw mango is optional but lovely. About 1/4 cup of chopped raw mango brings a bright, tangy contrast to the earthy chickpeas.
• Finish with coconut. A generous handful of freshly grated coconut stirred through at the end is what makes it taste like sundal.

Recipe 2: Chana dal sundal

Chana dal (split Bengal gram) cooks much faster than whole chickpeas, so this one needs only an hour's soak and no pressure cooker.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chana dal
• 1 tsp salt (for cooking), plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly grated coconut
• 2 green chillies
• A small piece of ginger, chopped
• A few curry leaves (for the coconut mix), plus a few more for tempering
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• A few dried red chillies
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)

Method

1. Soak the chana dal in plenty of water for 1 hour.
2. Bring a deep pot of water to the boil, add the soaked dal and 1 tsp salt, and cook until just done. Skim off any froth that forms on top.
3. Drain the dal and set it aside. Take care not to overcook it; each grain should hold its shape.
4. In a mixer jar, pulse the grated coconut, green chillies, ginger and a few curry leaves a few times to a coarse mix. Don't grind it to a paste.
5. Heat the oil in a pan and add the urad dal, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Add the dried red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida.
6. Add the cooked chana dal and a little salt to taste, and mix gently.
7. Stir in the coarse coconut mixture, mix well, and turn off the heat.

The coconut-ginger-chilli mix gives this sundal a fresher, slightly zingy flavour that's quite different from the chickpea version, so it's worth making both.

Serving and storing

Serve sundal warm or at room temperature, in small bowls or the traditional way in a folded leaf cone. It travels well, so it's good for lunch boxes and gatherings. Because of the fresh coconut it's best eaten the same day, though plain cooked legumes can be refrigerated and tempered just before serving.

Sundal fits naturally into a sattvic, yoga-friendly way of eating: simple, home-cooked, protein-rich and free from onion and garlic. If you enjoy recipes like this, try our horse gram dosa or horsegram rice (kollu sadam).

A note on diet

Individual nutritional needs vary. Legumes can cause bloating for some people, and soaking well and cooking thoroughly helps. A pinch of asafoetida in the tempering is a traditional aid too. If you have a legume allergy or have been advised to limit pulses, check with your doctor or a qualified nutritionist.