This simple south Indian chana sundal or chickpea sundal has loads of spicy, salty, savory flavors from fresh curry leaves, mustard seeds and cilantro. Serve it as a snack or a side dish.
Table of Contents
What is sundal?
Sundal is a south Indian stir-fry of beans or lentils tempered with spices and garnished with coconut. A version of this dish made with chana or chickpeas, called chana sundal, is very popular in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu during the Hindu festival Navratri. The chana sundal is offered to the gods before it is distributed among guests, usually children who go door to door collecting packets of this delicious treat.
Chana sundal is meant to be a dry curry, unlike my south Indian chickpea curry, which is saucy. The natural nuttiness of the chickpeas is nicely complemented by popped, spicy mustard seeds and curry leaves, with coconut and cilantro adding lots of freshness.
I like adding a bit of garlic to my sundal. It is not a traditional ingredient but I think it adds more flavor to this simple dish. Desi, who grew up eating sundal (and collecting it door to door as a child) loves this version more as well. You can skip the garlic if you want to, but I'd recommend trying it at least the first time.
You can use this chana sundal recipe as a blueprint to make other varieties of sundal. Legumes commonly used in south India include brown chickpeas (kala chana), black-eyed peas, green peas and kidney beans (rajma). You can even make it with sprouted mung beans, like a Maharashtrian usal, which would make the recipe even healthier. The recipe is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free, one-pot, and it takes about 15 minutes to put together from scratch once you have canned or cooked chickpeas on hand.
I make this chana sundal every few weeks. Because it is a dry dish, I pair it with something saucy, like my coconut curry and basmati rice for dinner. You can also eat it for a snack with a tall glass of mango lassi or aam ka panna.
Love chickpeas Indian style? Don't miss these recipes for my authentic, restaurant-style chana masala, roasted cauliflower and chickpeas with Indian spices, and Pindi chole.
Recipe card
Chana (Chickpea) Sundal Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers (chopped, or any green chili peppers. Deseed and use just one pepper if sensitive to heat.)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional, but nice for color. If you'd like even more heat in the sundal use cayenne)
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or, if using canned, two 15 oz cans. Drain all liquid from chickpeas before using)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon grated coconut (unsweetened)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Place the garlic, cumin seeds and green chile peppers in a mortar and pestle or food processor and crush into a coarse paste. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add mustard seeds and when they sputter, add asafetida and urad dal. Stir-fry for a few seconds until the urad dal begins to turn lightly golden. Then add the curry leaves and stir-fry for a few seconds.
- Add the garlic-cumin-chili paste you just made to the skillet and stir-fry for a minute. Add the powdered spices to the skillet: the ground coriander, turmeric and paprika, if using. Mix.
- Add the chickpeas to the skillet and mix well. Continue stir-frying for a couple more minutes. Add salt to taste.
- Stir in the coconut and cilantro. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Ingredient notes:
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil adds flavor to this south Indian recipe. But you can substitute it with another neutral oil.
- Curry leaves: If you can't find curry leaves, add 2 tablespoon cilantro at the time you'd add the curry leaves. You can garnish with more cilantro at the end.
- Urad dal: Urad dal, also called black gram dal, are small, white lentils. When sauteed with a bit of oil they add a nice crunch to the sundal. You can leave out the urad dal if you can't source it, or replace it with finely chopped cashew nuts or peanuts.
Nutrition Information
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How to make chana sundal
- Drain chickpeas in a colander.
- Use a mortar and pestle to make a coarse paste of cumin seeds, green chili peppers and garlic. Set aside. This paste will add a huge pop of flavor to the sundal.
- Heat 1 teaspoon coconut oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds and when they sputter add urad dal, asafetida and curry leaves. Stir-fry for a few seconds until the urad dal turns lightly golden-brown and crunchy. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute.
- Add the powdered spices -- turmeric, paprika and ground coriander -- and mix. Then stir in the chickpeas.
- Mix the chickpeas well with the spices and continue to stir-fry for 3-5 minutes more until the spices are well-mixed and the chickpeas have taken on color from the spices. Mix in the grated coconut and cilantro.
- Serve the sundal warm or at room temperature.
Chana Sundal FAQs
Yes. Fresh curry leaves have better flavor but if dried curry leaves are all you can find it is fine to use them in this recipe.
I serve sundal with rice and any curried dish that doesn't also contain legumes, like this mushroom spinach curry or Sri Lankan eggplant curry.
Sundal can be refrigerated for up to five days. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw and reheat sundal before serving. You can also serve it at room temperature.
Lexi says
Hello
This sounds delicious and I am definitely going to make it! Just wondering what urad dal is? When I google it, it comes up as black lentils - but your recipe only calls for a teaspoon so I was wondering if I've got it wrong?
Looking forward to making this one and I'll let you know how I go! 🙂
Vaishali says
Hi Levi, yes urad dal is the Indian term for split black lentils. You can buy it skin on but the kind you need for this recipe are the skinless, tiny white lentils.
Melissa says
I made this today and it is amazing! I used regular chickpeas, but will try this again when I find some Kala Chana. I love the combination of spices and flavors - the mustard and cumin seed, coconut, and mint with a touch of lemon! Next time I need a dish for a potluck, I'm bringing this! Thanks for posting this gem!
Vaishali Honawar says
Thanks, Melissa, so glad you tried it. 🙂
sra says
This looks really good. I just couldn't make out what the yellow chunk was till I came to the list of ingredients. Just the other day, someone on Facebook was joking that quinoa sundal was the way to outdo the others at a Navaratri golu! Otherwise I wouldn't have connected quinoa and sundal together. I've always thought of legumes, not grain, in sundal.
Vaishali Honawar says
Thanks, Sra! Yes, this is indeed a power sundal and the nuttiness is great with the legumes.