Channs- Mountain Urad Dal

Channs or Chansoo is a popular Kumaoni dish which is very different from any other dal preparation in India. Kumaon is part of the Himalayan region of India and the cuisine is characterized by lots of green vegetables, lentils, and almost no dairy. Kumaonis typically do not use much onion but the food is garlic and chilly heavy. In certain dishes, the lentils are cooked for hours on the high mountains, and the people just use the broth and throw away the solid lentil after absorbing every ounce of teh lentil flavor. Channs does bring back old memories , and is chraracterized by roasting the lentil before grinding it into a powder. The lentil used is the ubiquitious whole black urad which is the main ingredient of daal makhani and daal pakhtooni, however is different in the channs. The problem with making Kumaoni food is that the ingredients particularly some lentils and spices are native and impossible to find elsewhere. However, this is one of the few recipes where you can find all the ingredients in your kitchen.

1 cup whole black urad dal
2 red whole dried chillies
4 pinches of asfoetida
3 cups water
3 cloves garlic
1 tspn coriander powder
4 black peppercorns
1/2 tspn turmeric
2 tspn salt ( adjust for taste)
1 tspn cumin seeds
1 tspn garam masala

Instructions

1. Dry roast the dal on a low flame till you get a light aroma. Should take 5 minutes. Make sure daal is not burnt.
2. Now blend the dal, coriander powder, peppercorn, turmeric till you get a coarse powder.
3. Heat 2 tspn oil. Add asfoetida, Cumin seeds, garlic,and red chillies.
4. Add the dal powder, saute for 2 minutes.
5. Add the water and cook for 20-25 minutes till daal is soft.
6. Add garam masala.