Dal paratha or stuffed chana dal paratha is a traditional indian flatbread made of whole wheat flour dough stuffed with a spiced lentil filling. These parathas are nutritious, satisfying and vegan friendly.
Dal paratha is a popular breakfast in north indian homes often served with lashings of butter & achar (indian pickle). However, its versatility shines when paired with a side of vegetable curry and a bowl of refreshing yogurt, making for an exquisite main course.
All varieties of parathas hold a special place in our hearts. In north indian households, we relish plain paratha alongside flavorful curries during lunch or dinner. As for breakfast, stuffed parathas like methi aloo paratha, palak paneer paratha, or paneer paratha take the spotlight. Accompanied by a cup of hot tea, the stuffed parathas truly make for a satisfying meal.
During summer, these delicious paratha with a dal stuffing used to be made quite often. With aloo ka jhol (potato curry) and boondi raita, the meal used to an absolute delight. My children adore them as well.
What's truly wonderful about these chana dal parathas is that they remain irresistibly delicious not only when warm but also when enjoyed at room temperature. They're suitable for road trips and lunch boxes.
About my recipe
You are going to begin by preparing the chana dal stuffing. For it, begin by soaking the lentils. Then we are going to cook the lentils with an optimum amount of water so that they are cooked through. However we are not cooking the lentils to be runny like in lauki chana dal. We are going to cook them till they are soft but hold shape like in aloo tikki chaat and chana dal tikki.
Once the lentils are cooked, while they are still warm, you are going to mash them lightly using back of spoon. Then add flavors- herbs and spices to make a crumbly dal filling. The lentil filling should not be pasty else you wont we able to roll the parathas- they will start tearing. For more, do read the recipe tips & FAQ section later in the post.
For the whole wheat flour or atta dough, I use the same recipe as for my other stuffed parathas. You could add spice powders to the dough itself while kneading, but I like to keep it simple and only add salt.
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Ingredients
For The Lentil Filling
- Chana Dal - Or Bengal gram lentils. These are easily available in indian grocery store. You could also use yellow moong dal or split pea lentils if you want.
- Spice Powders - Hing, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder, Amchoor (dry mango powder), Garam Masala
- Cilantro (Fresh coriander leaves) and green chilies
For The Dough
- Atta - Wholewheat Flour. You could easily get a bag at most indian grocery stores. Indian atta is milled finer as compared to whole wheat flour you get in the baking aisle and hence it does affect the overall texture of the paratha.
- Salt,Water to knead the dough, Oil or ghee to fry the parathas.
How To Make Dal Paratha (Step pictures)
Prepare The Chana Dal Stuffing
- Place chana dal in a large bowl and wash 3-4 times under running water while rubbing it slightly until the water is clear.
- Place the washed dal in a bowl and soak in enough water for 2-3 hours.
- Drain the water and add the soaked dal with fresh water to a pressure cooker or instant pot. Add turmeric powder, hing and salt. Pressure cook for 3-5 whistles on medium high or until the dal is fully cooked but the grains hold shape.
- Open the lid, there would be no to very less water in the pressure cooker. Using the back of spoon, gently mash the cooked dal to resemble a crumble while its still warm. We don't want to make a paste, grains here and there are fine.
- Add the dal to a bowl and mix in the red chilli powder, garam masala, amchoor, chopped cilantro and green chillies. Mix well.
Tip #1- The dal stuffing should neither be dry nor pasty. It should be lightly moist. You should be able to a make a soft small ball of the dal mixture. See image 8.
Knead the Dough
- Knead a soft dough while the dal is pressure cooking and let it rest. Resting contributes helps to make soft parathas. I use the same method as outlined in stuffed aloo methi paratha post for kneading the dough. Make a soft pliable dough so that it is easy to roll.
- Once rested, divide the paratha dough into equal parts. Roll to make smooth balls.
Stuff, Roll & Fry The Paratha
- Place a tawa(griddle) to heat up on medium flame. On a floured surface or a chakla, place a the dough ball and flatten slightly. Sprinkle little bit of dry flour and using a rolling pin, roll it into a 3 or 4 inch circle.
- Place about 2-3 tablespoons of chana dal stuffing in the center and bring the sides of the dough together to make a small round parcel.
- Dusting with flour as needed, using a rolling pin, roll the stuffed dough parcel into a 6 to 7 inch circle.
Tip #2 - In general, stuffed parathas taste better when they are rolled not too thick or thin. Be gentle handed during rolling, else the dough will stick to the rolling pin, tear and the stuffing will start coming out.
Tip #3 - You may sprinkle dry flour during rolling the paratha, however dont add too much, because the dry flour sticks to the surface of the paratha and when you will fry it, there will be black specks on the paratha (that look quite unappetizing).
- Place the rolled paratha on the hot tawa. Cook the parathas on medium flame, flip after 1-2 minutes, generously brush oil or ghee and then flip again to let cook on the oil side. Brush little oil on the second side, flip and cook till both the sides have golden spots.
Tip #4 Personally, I don't press the stuffed parathas a lot while cooking. For a flaky and crispy parathas, allow to cook low and slow flipping and browning on both sides as needed on a constant heat.
Serving & Storing
- Serve dal paratha wil yogurt, butter, achaar (I like mango pickle) and a cup of chai for a satisfying meal.
- You could pair it with aloo paneer curry, aloo jhol or a creamy curry like navratan korma or malai aloo curry for a satiating main meal.
- Roll up the parathas and pack it for meals on the go.
- These parathas store well refrigerated in a close container for 2-3 days. You could reheat on a griddle or microwave(for 6-8 seconds)
Recipe Tips
Dough
- Always make a fresh dough for the best taste.
- Avoid adding too much salt to the dough else as the dough rests, it starts getting sticky and you will have difficulty rolling it.
- Always rest the dough for 10-15 minutes, this rests the gluten.
- Rolling to a perfect round shape takes practice. Even I am not great at it. Don't be frustrated if you cannot get a perfect shape. If you ask me, good tasting parathas are more important than good looking ones!
Stuffing & Rolling
- You could make the dal stuffing 1-2 days ahead and keep refrigerated.
- You could add more or less spices or flavors to the dal stuffing as you prefer. I personally don't like to add a lot of spices so that the taste of lentils shine.
- Make sure to over fill the dal stuffing. The dal stuffing is soft and has salt and it will start to come out when you roll the paratha.
- If you roll the parathas too thin, they will not be soft or if you roll thick(they will remain uncooked).
Cooking The Parathas
- The texture of paratha depends on the material of skillet. I use a heavy tawa or cast iron griddle for cooking the paratha. You could use non stick or aluminum pans too (I feel that the parathas aren't that khasta(crispy flaky) when cooked on those).
- For a karara (flaky and crisp) parathas that are still soft on the inside, cook on a constant heat, keep a close eye and flip & brown as needed.
- Don't skimp on oil else the parathas will taste dry.
FAQ
Of course, you could use yellow moong/ mung dal or matar dal (split yellow peas). The taste of the paratha will be different depending on which dal you use.
If you overcook the dal and it becomes quite mushy, add the dal to a pan and dry it out on slow heat stirring very gently (to avoid it getting pasty). Once the dal has dried, you can use it to make the filling.
Dal Paratha
Ingredients
For Making The Dal Stuffing
- ¾ cup Chana Dal bengal gram
- 1.25 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder haldi
- ¾ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- Pinch asafoetida hing
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder hot, adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon dry mango powder amchur, adjust to taste
- 2 indian green chillies hot, adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
For Making The Dough
- 2 cup whole wheat flour atta + extra for dusting
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water or as needed
- Oil or ghee as needed for frying the parathas
Instructions
Make The Dal Stuffing
- Place chana dal in a large bowl and wash 3-4 times under running water while rubbing it slightly until the water is clear. Place the washed dal in a bowl and soak in enough water for 2-3 hours.
- Drain the water and add the soaked dal with fresh water to a pressure cooker or instant pot. Add turmeric powder, hing and salt.
- Pressure cook for 3-5 whistles on medium high flame or until the dal is fully cooked but the grains hold shape.
- Open the lid, there would be no water in the pressure cooker. Using the back of spoon, gently mash the cooked dal to resemble a crumble while its still warm. We don't want to make a paste, few grains here and there are fine.
- Add the dal to a bowl and mix in the red chilli powder, garam masala, amchoor, chopped cilantro and green chillies. Mix well. Tip #1- The dal stuffing should neither be dry nor pasty. It should be lightly moist. You should be able to a make a soft small ball of the dal mixture. See image 8 in the blog post.
Make The Dough
- Measure and add dry atta to a large bowl. Add salt. Slowly start adding water and mixing in the flour using circular motion of your fingers.
- Slowly, atta will start clumping up as it absorbs the water. Add water in very small quantities from now to make a non sticky dough ball. Use your knuckles to knead the atta to soft, smooth & pliable dough.
- If you want you can add a little oil or melted ghee while kneading. The dough should be smooth and should not have any cracks.
- Cover the dough with a kitchen towel for about 20 minutes (to rest the gluten). If you plan on making parathas later, your refrigerate the dough in an air tight container for later use.
- Once rested, divide the paratha dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each portion to make smooth balls.
- For Using Stand Mixer - see instructions in this post.
STUFF, ROLL & FRY THE DAL PARATHA
- Place a tawa(griddle) to heat up on medium flame. On a floured surface or a chakla, place a the dough ball and flatten slightly. Sprinkle little bit of dry flour and using a rolling pin, roll it into a 3 or 4 inch circle.
- Place about 2-3 tablespoons of chana dal stuffing in the center and bring the sides of the dough together to make a small round parcel. Dusting with flour as needed, using a rolling pin, roll the stuffed dough parcel into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Tip #2 - In general, stuffed parathas taste better when they are rolled not too thick or thin. Be gentle handed during rolling, else the dough will start sticking to the rolling pin, tear and the stuffing will start coming out.Tip #3 - You may sprinkle dry flour during rolling the paratha, however don't add too much, because the dry flour sticks to the surface of the paratha and when you will fry, there will be black specks on the paratha(that look quite unappetizing).
- Place the rolled paratha on the hot tawa. Cook the parathas on medium flame, flip after 1-2 minutes, generously brush oil or ghee and then flip again to let cook on the oil side. Brush little oil on the second side, flip and cook till both the sides have golden spots. Serve!
Notes
- Nutrition information mentioned in the recipe is an estimation only.
- Always make a fresh dough for the best taste.
- Avoid adding too much salt to the dough else as the dough rests, it starts getting sticky and you will have difficulty rolling it.
- Always rest the dough for 10-15 minutes, this rests the gluten.
- Rolling to a perfect round shape takes practice. Even I am not great at it. Don't be frustrated if you cannot get a perfect shape. If you ask me, good tasting parathas are more important than good looking ones!
- You could make the dal stuffing 1-2 days ahead and keep refrigerated.
- You could add more or less spices or flavors to the dal stuffing as you prefer. I personally don't like to add a lot of spices so that the taste of lentils shine.
- Make sure to over fill the dal stuffing. The dal stuffing is soft and has salt and it will start to come out when you roll the paratha.
- If you roll the parathas too thin, they will not be soft or if you roll thick(they will remain uncooked).
- The texture of paratha depends on the material of skillet. I use a heavy tawa or cast iron griddle for cooking the paratha. You could use non stick or aluminum pans too (I feel that the parathas aren't that khasta(crispy flaky) when cooked on those).
- For a karara (flaky and crisp) parathas that are still soft on the inside, cook on a constant heat, keep a close eye and flip & brown as needed.
- Don't skimp on oil else the parathas will taste dry.
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