This bean looks just like yellow split peas, but is quite different because it doesn't readily boil down to mush. It's more closely related to garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. The differences are that chana dal is younger, smaller, split, sweeter, and has a much lower glycemic index. But you can substitute chana dal for garbanzo beans in just about any recipe
They are peeled, in that in addition to not being in the seed pod in which they grew, the splitting process also removes the dull colored outer skin of the pea. They come in yellow and green varieties. The peas are round when harvested and dried. Once dry, after the skin is removed, the natural split in the seed's cotyledon can be manually or mechanically separated, in part to encourage faster cooking due to increasing the surface area exposed to heat.
In markets, both the green and the yellow varieties of split pea are found in their respective selections, bagged by color. These two colors reflect some of the work of Gregor Mendel, who studied the inheritance of seed color in peas. The green phenotype is recessive to the yellow one. Traditionally, the genotype of purebred yellow is "YY" and that of green is "yy", and hybrids of the two, "Yy", have a yellow (dominant) phenotype.
Roasted chickpeas contain 40 milligrams of calcium, 39 milligrams of magnesium, 239 milligrams of potassium and just 6 milligrams of sodium in a serving. Nutritional labels for roasted, unsalted chickpeas rarely list the vitamin content, as the cooking process can damage their composition, but raw chickpeas contain notable levels of vitamin A and folate.
Roasted, unsalted chickpeas contain a considerable amount of protein with more than 7 grams, or 15 percent of a 50-gram DRI, per 1/2-cup serving. Use them to add a protein boost to meals without introducing meat or unnecessary fat to the dish.
Maharshtra
Andhra pradesh
Rajasthan
Gujarat
Kerala
April-May
