Homemade Dal Tadka – Just Like Restaurants!
A popular indian lentil dish made from 2-3 kind of yellow lentils and then tempered with a mixture of spices and aromatics known as tadka. Serve over steamed rice or with indian flatbreads.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup toor dal/arhar split pigeon pea lentils
- ¼ cup laal masoor dal red lentils,husked & split
- 2 tablespoon yellow moong dal golden lentils (split )
- 2 tablespoon chana dal bengal gram lentils
- 2.5-3 cup water or as needed to adjust consistency later
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
For Tadka (Tempering)
- 3 tablespoon ghee or use oil for vegan
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon hing asafoetida
- 1 medium (~100g) onion finely chopped (I use red onion)
- 2 whole dried kashmiri red chilies use 1 if its big in size
- 1 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely chopped, optional
- 2 green chilies (hot!), finely chopped, adjust to taste
- 1 medium (~70g) tomato finely chopped (I use roma tomato)
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (skip if not available)
Ground Spices
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder (medium hot)adjust to taste, I use degi mirch
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon amchur dry mango powder (or use lemon juice to taste )
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
Second Tadka
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
Instructions
SOAK & BOIL THE LENTILS
- Place the lentils in a large wide plate and scan for small stones.
- Add the lentils to a large bowl and thoroughly wash under running cold water 3-5 times or as needed. Once the water runs clear, cover the lentils in excess water and let soak for 15-20 minutes.
- While the lentils are soaking, you can use this time for prep work. Finely chop the onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cilantro and green chillies. Also measure out the ground spices in a small bowl.
- Drain the water from soaked lentils and add them to a pressure cooker or steel insert of instant pot.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon ghee and water to the lentils
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker or instant pot. Let pressure cook for 2-3 whistles on medium heat. In case of instant pot, let cook for 7 minutes on high pressure. Let pressure release naturally. Adjust cooking times as needed.
- Open the lid and gently mash the lentils with the back of a spoon.The lentils are hot and soft right now so they can turn gooey quickly. Aim for a balanced texture where some of the lentils break down to thicken the dal while the chana dal grains remain intact for a slight bite.
TEMPER THE LENTILS
- Add ghee to the skillet and let melt on low medium heat. Temper the ghee with cumin seeds and hing. Let cumin crackle taking care not to burn it.
- Add the chopped onions and dried whole chilli. Fry the onions until they begin changing color. Don't brown.
- Make the tadka. In a small sauce pan, heat up the ghee. Add the cumin seeds and let crackle.
- Next, add the chopped garlic, ginger and green chilies. Fry with onions for 30-40 seconds.
- Add the tomatoes next and sprinkle the ground spices - coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix and let the tomatoes soften slightly. Don't cook down or dry out the tomatoes.
- Pour the cooked dal into the skillet and mix well. Add ⅓ to ½ cup water if needed to adjust the consistency. Bring the dal to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Finish the dal with chopped cilantro, garam masala powder, and crushed kasuri methi. For an extra layer of flavor, heat a small amount of ghee or oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, and let them crackle.
- Turn off the heat, stir in red chili powder, and immediately pour this second tempering over the dal.
- Top the dal tadka with more fresh cilantro and fried onions (if using) before serving.
Video
Notes
- If possible, choose a wide skillet (I use my 12 inch hybrid skillet) for tempering the dal. The reason is that a wider surface area ensures that the spices bloom evenly and allows for better evaporation helping to intensify flavors and create a more flavorful tempering.
- Curry leaves or black mustard seeds are not common in north indian dal recipes. if you prefer them, add in the tadka.
- Use any neutral tasting oil in this recipe instead of ghee for vegan version. Coconut oil is not a good choice since it will make dal taste of coconut(unless you prefer so).
- Dal tadka has a pourable but thick consistency, so avoid thinning it out too much. That said, as the dal rests, it will thicken considerably so make sure its not very thick to begin with.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!