Sundal or Tempered Black Chickpea Salad is a very popular snack amongst the South Indians. It’s often served after a pooja during a Hindu festival but is really eaten as a snack anytime/anywhere!
It’s made using chickpeas, curry leaves, grated coconut, dried chillies and some spices, all tempered in coconut oil & finished off with lime juice! I love it as a base for salad bowls too.
Now there are a couple of ingredients here that requires you to probably go into an Asian shop but its well worth the trip. You will definitely be using them in my other recipes. So please do get them, and if you need help getting them online, let me know. I can send you examples of how they look like. But saying that, I have also made this many times by omitting a few of these typical Indian spices because I didn’t have them and was NOT going to drive 40minutes just to get 1 spice. Its still tasted good!
What you need:
- 240g (1 can) cooked Black Chana Dhal/Chickpeas (or normal chickpeas)
- 1Tbsp coconut oil (I use this https://amzn.to/2DZDQv4 )
- 1tsp black mustard seeds
- 1tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp urad dhal (black gram/lentils) (optional)
- 3 whole dried chillies (more if you like it spicy)
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves (or bay leaves)
- 1/2tsp asafoetida (optional) (https://amzn.to/2DUYNHu)
- 1/2tsp Amchoor (dry mango powder) (you can also substitute with 1/4 cup of shredded raw mango – or add both if you like) (https://amzn.to/2xYoMsa)
- 2Tbsp freshly grated coconut
- 1 raw green chilli (optional)
- 1/2 lime juice
- salt to taste
This is how you make it:
- Heat up the coconut oil in a pan (slow heat) and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds
- When the seeds crackle, add the curry leaves, urad dhal and dried chillies. (don’t let the mustard seeds burn or they will turn bitter)
- After about 30 seconds, add the asafoetida and Amchoor and stir for about 15 seconds before adding the chickpeas.
- Finally add the grated coconut, raw mango/green chilli (if you want), salt and lime juice.
The asafoetida gives this dish that indian taste, but I have done this many times without and its equally delicious. Same goes with the urad dhal and mango powder. Fresh raw mango is delicious and easier to get in the stores! So don’t worry if you cant find it near you.
Also, garlic chives make a good substitute for asafoetida. Maybe you could try that.
I add fresh cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, celery, salad leaves and make it a big salad bowl sometimes. Makes the perfect lunch!
Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!