jfinger@diablo.ARPA (Jeff Finger) (03/06/86)
An Indian cookbook of mine unequivocally states that channa dal is split, hulled garbanzos. This would seem to make sense since garbanzo dishes seem to have the word "channa" pop up in their Hindi names (e.g., "Kabli Channa"). However, other books conspicuously do not mention this, referring to garbanzos as "chole". Anyone know for sure? -- Jeff Finger -- decwrl!glacier!diablo!jfinger jfinger@su-aimvax.arpa
reid@glacier.ARPA (Brian Reid) (03/07/86)
"Dal" is the Hindi word for split grains. So what is "Channa?" In my opinion Julie Sahni is the definitive reference on Indian ingredients. She says that channa dal is its own species of yellow pea, but doesn't give a species name or particular substitutes. Von Welanetz says "Channa, a type of small chick-pea, is the most common Indian seed. When split for dal, it is a bit more oval in shape than the common chick-pea of the Middle East, and has a nutty flavor.... Canned chick peas can be substituted for cooked channa in most recipes" Dowell and Bailey say that a garbanzo is a pea (Cicer arietinum) while channa is a lentil (Lens esculenta), and that in Bengal a subspecies called "Bengal gram" is called channa, while in the south a different subspecies called "yellow dal" is called channa. My own opinion is that yellow split peas make the best substitute for channa dal (better than garbanzos, for sure, but also better than the average American lentil). However, I have only had channa dal in London and I don't know what the real thing is necessarily supposed to taste like. -- Brian Reid decwrl!glacier!reid Stanford reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA