On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:04:41 -0400, Jefferson
wrote:

Peter G. (Bigbird) wrote:


"Chana Dal is closely related to chickpeas. It has the same scientific
family name as chickpeas, "Cicer arietinum", but while chickpeas belong to
the "kabuli" group, chana dal belongs to the "desi" group. "Desi" in Hindi
means local or coming from the country (as in "India") -- they were always
there."

I tend to believe them as I dislike lentil a lot but do like chana dahl.
However, if you're not careful, some places will try to tell you that a
yellow split pea is chana dahl. Trouble is, split peas go all mushy when
they're cooked, dahl doesn't.

It takes a long time to cook them and my wife refuses to deal with chana
dal since the pot boils over often.

DON'T let her near a pressure cooker G

Mother in law helpfully opened the lid of the pressure cooker to see
if the meal was cooked yet. For years I was finding sesame seeds
embedded in things . . .

I find the boiling of such things improves if you soak them well for
long enough first and change the water, makes them less likely to
crawl out of the pot