By Chana Dal Puri Bihari style (Bengal gram dal stuffed puris) is a traditional and festive dish from the state of Bihar. Spicy cooked chana dal is stuffed inside wheat flour dough, rolled into puris then deep fried to perfection. Traditionally dal puri is served with rice kheer, but today I have served it with Bihari Aloo Bhujia. Let’s see the step by step recipe to make Bihari Chana Dal puri.
India has the best flatbread recipes ever. And this chana dal puri is definitely one of them. Chana dal is cooked and prepared into a flavourful and spicy stuffing with the goodness of hing and ginger and minimal spices. Then stuffed in whole wheat flour dough and then deep fried into these delicious puris.
Bengalis have a similar deep fried flat bread called Radhaballabi. This too are flavourful deep fried puris stuffed with delicious urad dal filling. But, I always fancied and relished the one with chana dal that I have grown up eating since childhood. My mom makes the similar one but as parathas instead of this deep fried beauties. That is to say if you are not a fan of deep fried stuff then you can make this into healthy parathas and enjoy.
Parathas are quite usual in my house. Gobi paratha being my favourites. In fact my 2 year old loves and relishes his parathas. I try making different kind of parathas for my little fellow almost everyday.
We don’t do puris a lot especially for breakfast but this was an exception. Since my parents are here I made this bengal gram stuffed puris along with aloo bhujia (potato fry) for breakfast and it was gone in a jiffy. It was just so delicious and irresistible. Definitely a crowd pleaser.
How to make Chana dal puri?
The chana dal stuffing of this Bihari style puri is very simple to make yet extremely delicious. Chana dal puri requires very little ingredients.
To make the Chana dal stuffing: Wash and soak the chana dal for an hour. Then pressure cooked for 2 to 3 whistles. Drain the water. The dal should be soft but not mushy.
In a pan heat oil and temper with cumin seeds, hing and ginger. Then add in the cooked chana dal and mix everything well. Then add in turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and sugar and mix. Slowly crush the dal hand masher. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the dal pulls away from the sides. Add coriander leaves and remove form the heat.
To make the dough: Mix wheat flour (atta), salt, oil. Then addd little water at a time to make a firm yet a soft dough.
To make the Dal Puri: Make small balls of the dough approx lemon size. Then make into a small circle then stuff it with a small ball of the chana dal stuffing. Gather the sides together and roll it into a ball. Then flatten this stuffed dough and roll it into puris. Heat oil in a frying pan to deep fry the puris. Slowly drop in the flattened puris in the hot oil and deep fry the puris until golden brown. Drain and take it off the heat. Continue the same process for the rest of the dough and stuffing.
Here are few breakfast recipes for you.
Chana Dal puri Bihari style
Chana Dal Puri Bihari Style
Equipment
- pressure cooker
- deep frying pan
- Thick bottomed pan, Kadhai
- large bowl for kneading the dough
Ingredients
For the Chana Dal stuffing
- 1 cup Chana dal Washed, soaked for 1 hour
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp Hing
- 1/2 tsp Ginger finely grated
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Chilli powder
- 1/2 cup Coriander leaves Chopped
- 1 tsp Sugar/Jaggery/Sweetener
- Salt as per taste
- 2 tbsp Oil
For the Dough
- 2 cup Wheat flour (Atta)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Oil/ghee
- Water to bind it into dough
Other Ingredients
- Oil for deep frying the puris
Instructions
To make Chana dal stuffing
- Add the chana dal in a pressure cooker along with 1 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles. Now drain the water. The chana dal should be soft but not mushy.
- Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan. Then temper the oil with cumin seeds, hing and grated ginger and sauté for 5 to 10 seconds.
- Add the soft chana dal to the oil and sauté, slowly crushing the chana dal with a hand masher roughly.
- Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and sugar and mix everything well.
- Cook the mixture for 5-6 minutes until the chana dal stuffing is cooked through and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
- Take it off the heat and keep it aside to cool.
To make the dough
- In a large bowl add the flour, salt, oil and rub them together. Now add water a little at a time and knead into a firm but soft dough.
To make Dal puris
- Make small balls of the dough (approximately lemon sized). Then flatten it into a small circle and stuff it with a small ball of the chana dal stuffing.
- Gather the sides together and roll it into a ball. Then flatten this stuffed dough and roll it into puris.
- Heat oil in a frying pan to deep fry the puris. Slowly drop in the flattened puris in the hot oil.
- Deep fry the puris until golden brown. Drain and take it off the heat. Continue the same process for the rest of the dough and stuffing.
- Serve it hot with steaming hot chai and aloo bhujia or kheer.
I hope you enjoy this delicious Chana Dal Puri as much as we do!
You know what guys I would love to see your creations. If you have tried this recipe, just click a pic and tag me @gastronomicbong or #gastronomicbong on Instagram or on Facebook.
Bon Appetit!!!
priya
September 20, 2019Bihari cuisine is pretty new to me. I want to explore it and this recipe is a great start 🙂
Bernard Alvares
June 5, 2020Good afternoon (Toronto, Canada time),
Your chana-dal-puri-bihari-style recipe takes me back to my childhood years in Calcutta where fried dal puries were a breakfast staple. Your illustrations conjure up images of scrumptious meals. Alas, in my senior years, I try to avoid all things fried and I was, wondering, whether you have a recipe for stuffed parathas as opposed to deep fried poories. Keep up the amazing recipes.
Kind regards
Bernard Alvares
Arpita@Gastronomic Bong
June 7, 2020Hello Sir,
Thank you for this lovely comment. You can actually make the exact same stuffing for parathas. Instead of deep frying just roast the paratha on the griddle and slightly brush them with some butter or oil. It gives excellent result.