How to Make Caribbean Style Dhal: Trinidad Dhal Recipe

Last Updated on June 22, 2023 by Chef Mireille

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Dhal is a lentil curry that is made throughout the Indian diaspora. In countries that have had a massive Indian influence like Trinidad and Tobago, you will see the similarities with Indian Dal, however, Trinidad Dhal is unique in its own way.

For me, Dhal, Roti, Curry and Rice was a Sunday dinner. To this day, I’ve never had a pot roast dinner in my life, although I grew up in the USA. My Caribbean style Sunday dinner is how I grew up! 

And the best thing were the leftovers. Everything always tastes better the next day. While this Trinidad Dahl can be eaten simply with Trinidadian roti or just hot rice, my favorite was to have it in a large mug for breakfast. There is something about eating dal from a mug that is just nostalgic for me.

What is Indo Caribbean?

Many Indian people I meet are often surprised when I tell them I grew up eating things like curry, dal and roti. I always find it mind boggling how they have no concept of the large Indo Caribbean populations and larger Indian diasporic populations in places like South Africa, Kenya and the Caribbean. However, I am glad this is changing and now I meet less people in shock when I tell them of my Indo Caribbean family. 

With the internet, people are now learning of the history of Indians who were brought as indentured servants in the 1800’s and they stayed and have their own culture which is a fusion of traditional Indian and other cultures that are present in these countries.

There is much inter marrying of Indian, Chinese and Black and so we embrace all of the cultures that are present on our islands. Caribbean people are some of the most diverse people on the planet.

Although Indo Caribbean people have their roots in India, Indo Caribbean food and culture is influenced by ingredient availability and other cultures on the islands. One of the things I love about being from the Caribbean is that we mix and match foods and cultures.

It is not uncommon to have a Caribbean plate that will include Rice, Dhal, Roti, Chow Mein, Macaroni Pie and Brown Stew Chicken. It’s all Trini!

Our nationality is more important than our ethnicity.

Trinidadian Dhal

The Caribbean Countries with the largest Indian descended populations are Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica. Although Jamaicans make curry, dal and roti are far less common in Jamaica.

My family is from Suriname, but I grew up with an aunt from Tobago, therefore I cook both Indo Surinamese and Indo Trini food; just depends what mood I’m in.

Today, I’m going to show you my Dhal Recipe – Trini Style!

There are a few differences between Caribbean Dhal and Indian Dal Recipes:

• ​While the seasoned oil at the end of Indian Dal recipes is called the tadka, we call it the chunkay.
• While most Indian dal recipes end with cilantro, in Trinidad it ends with chandon beni (sometimes spelled as chadon beni, shadow beni or shadoe beny) or what you might know as culantro or recaito.
• It can’t be Caribbean if it is not made with hot pepper of course and in the West Indies it has to be Scotch Bonnet pepper or what we call in Suriname the Madame Jeanette pepper, You probably know it as Habanero. 

Recipe Notes

• There is some variation with making dhal. It really depends how thick or thin you prefer it. You can puree it completely or partially. Use less water at the end if you prefer a thicker dhal.
• If you still want more spice, add some Caribbean style pepper sauce to your Dhal Trini style.
• If you’d like, you can add a little bit of Caribbean Green Seasoning to the chunkay.
• Try to use freshly purchased split peas. The older the peas are, the longer the dahl will take to cook.

Ingredients

• ​yellow split peas (chana dal)
• turmeric powder
• garlic
• Scotch Bonnet pepper
• oil
• cumin seeds (or roasted ground cumin sold as roasted geera in Caribbean markets)
• small onion
• salt

How to Cook Dhal

• Rinse split peas with cold water in a few exchanges of water.
• In a pot, combine peas, whole cloves of garlic and whole Scotch Bonnet pepper with turmeric and 6 cups water.
• Cook on medium low heat. Lower heat if the peas are sticking to the bottom. It will take about an hour until the peas are soft and tender. You can pre soak your peas if you’d like it to cook faster or use an Instant Pot. Before the Instant Pot, my Mom always made dhal in a pressure cooker.
• Using a swizzle stick (if you have one), potato masher or an immersion blender, puree the cooked split peas mixture until you have a creamy consistency. It’s up to you how smooth or chunky you prefer your dhal.
• In a small frying pan, heat oil.
• Add cumin seed and fry in the hot oil until it starts to change color
• Add garlic slices and fry for 30 seconds.
• Add onion and cook until the onion is softened and translucent.
• Add the chunkay to the dal and stir to combine.
• Add more or less boiling water, as desired for desired consistency.
• Add chadoe beni and stir to combine.
• Enjoy with Curry Chicken and rice!

Trinidad Dhal is a healthy side dish full of protein and anti oxidants.

Indian Dal Recipes

While in India, you will find many regional dal recipes and the varieties of dal recipes are countless. They make dal with many different varieties of lentils, like my other Dal Recipes here:

• Kalonji Dal (Nigella Seed)
• Sookhi Tadka Dal (Garlic)
• Methi Dal (Fenugreek)
• Panchmel Dal
• Green Mango Dal

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Trinidad Dhal Recipe

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

1x2x3x

Calories: 281kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow split peas
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper
• 3 whole garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
• 1 onion chopped
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons chadoe beni finely chopped

Instructions

• Rinse split peas with cold water in a few exchanges of water to remove any rocks or old dark colored peas.
• In a large pot, combine peas, whole cloves of garlic and whole Scotch Bonnet pepper.
• Add turmeric and water.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer and cook on medium low heat. Lower heat if the peas are sticking to the bottom. It will take about an hour until the peas are soft and tender. You can pre soak your peas if you'd like it to cook faster or use an Instant Pot.
• Remove from the heat.
• Using a swizzle stick (if you have one), potato masher or an immersion blender, puree the cooked split peas mixture until you have a creamy consistency. It's up to you how smooth or chunky you prefer your dhal.
• Now it’s time to make the chunkay.
• In a small skillet, heat oil.
• Add cumin and fry until it starts to change color and turn fragrant.
• Add garlic slices and fry for 30 seconds.
• Add onion and cook until the onion starts to turn golden.
• Add the chunkay to the dal and stir to combine.
• Add more or less boiling water, as desired for desired consistency. Start with 1 cup and add up to 2 1/2 cups if you prefer a thinner dal.

Notes

You can use ground roasted cumin powder instead of whole cumin seeds, if you prefer.

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 558mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 104IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 3mg

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