What is tadka dal?
Dal tadka is one of the signature dishes of Indian main course. You can never ever get bored of it. A good mix dal tadka dhaba style is a dish you will savor always. I always love having this dish with some matar pulao or a huge bowl of fried rice. Pair it with a Paneer curry or achari aloo, raita and a tandoori roti. This is a perfect vegetarian main course. I am already hungry as I write this 🙂
If you do not want to go elaborate with your menu, pair it with some fried poori or plain basmati rice. Also, this recipe of dal tadka is very similar to dal baati dal recipe. You just need to adjust the amount of water and spices to make it little watery for the dal baati.
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How to make Dal tadka ? ( video recipe)
Related recipes
Ingredients
- Mixed lentils -(chana, tuvar, masoor, moong). Chana dal comes in 2 colors(green and yellow), I have taken the green colored chana dal.
- Tomato
- Onion
- Ginger-garlic- chilly
- Cumin seeds
- Asafoetida/heeng
- Spices -turmeric,red chilly powder, garam masala
- Ghee/oil if vegan
How to make dal tadka? step by step instructions.
- Soak the mixed lentils in a bowl of water for 20-30 minutes.
- Cook them with water, tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Generally we add twice cups water to 1 cup of lentils. You can adjust according to your choice. Add a small bowl of water if you feel the dal is too thick later.
3. In a pan, heat oil or ghee and cook ginger, garlic, chilly with cumin.
4. Add onion and cook until golden brown. 5. Mash the cooked lentils.
6. Add onion mix to the lentils. Keep cooking for another 5 mins. Stir in between and let it come to a boil.
Dal tadka recipe dhaba style
Equipment
- pressure cooker
- Masher
Ingredients
For yellow tadka dal recipe
- 1 cup mixed lentils Masoor (red lentil,tuvar/ arhar (pigeon peas),chana(Split chickpeas),mung)
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 2-3 tomatoes chopped
- 1 tablespoon green chilli garlic,ginger each
- 2-3 tablespoon Oil for tempering
- 1 teaspoon Coriander for garnish
- 2 cups water
Spices for tadka
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 2-3 dried red chillies
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- Salt as per taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice optional
Instructions
How to boil mixed dhal
- Soak lentils in 3 cups of water for 4-6 hours.
- Pressure cook the lentils with chopped tomatoes,salt and turmeric.Keep it aside.
How to make tadka
- In a pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds and dried chillies and let it splutter.
- Add ginger,garlic,chilli and onions. Let it cook until onions are golden brown.
- Mash the lentils and add onions mixture to it.
- Let it come to a boil,garnish with chopped coriander leaves
- Optionally add some lemon juice if you prefer it to be bit sour.
- Serve hot with jeera rice/pulao.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Variations and Substitutions
- You may choose to just use a single variety of dal, for eg. massor (red lentil) and it will be called masoor dal tadka. Or use the yellow mung dal only and call it Yellow mung dal tadka.
- If you like your food spicy, increase the red chili powder in tempering. If you like your food mild, use paprika or Kashmiri red chilly powder which are a milder variety. You may also temper the red chilies separately along with a teaspoon cumin seeds in ghee/oil in a tadka pan. Always let the seeds splutter and then add the red chili and optionally, heeng Add it over the hot lentils for extra flavor.
- Avoid using heeng or asafoetida in if gluten-free. You can also use a single lentil of your choice to make this recipe if you do not have all of the above at home.
Equipment
You can cook lentils in any heavy bottom pan or even a slow cooker. You can use a instant pot or a pressure cooker too. The cook time will differ depending on the equipment. Check if the lentils are ready, by mashing a spoonful by using your thumb and index finger. Otherwise let it cook for 10-15 mins.
Storage
If you are short of time on a weeknight? Boil the lentils in a a bigger quantity which lasts two days together. Use half and remaining the next day. Always temper the lentils fresh, it tastes perfect. If you have lots of dhal left, strain it to use water for making rasam.Use the boiled lentil to make paratha.
FAQ
Soaking helps absorb minerals better.
Indian lentils for reference:
Moong - yellow split lentils
Sabut moong/Hari moong - green gram split lentils
Chilke wali moong -split green gram
Urad dal chilka- split black gram
Kali /Maa ki dal - black gram whole lentils
Urad - split black gram
Toor /arhar - yellow pigeon peas split lentils
Chana -split Bengal gram
Masoor -red lentils
Moth - Turkish gram
Dahl is a great source of protein for vegetarians. Do not forget to add a dash of lime juice on top. It increases the flavor as well as help in Iron absorption. Generally, thoor dhal/tuvar daal/toor dahl is used to make it. However, we can used mixed lentils too. This improves nutrient value as well as makes it easy to digest it. You do not need a meat based diet to get your protein. Lentils are easy to digest as well as cheap. A packet lasts long and makes multiple meals. You can make variety of dishes with lentils and never get bored.
Other important ones are turai dhal, lauki chana dhal, daal makhni,Yellow dal recipe sambar, rasam, amti. Dal fry & jeera rice is a match made in heaven. Indian cuisine has a variety of lentils and many ways to use them. Be it as a curry, appetizer and even a dessert. See the space below to learn how to make mixed lentils.
pakode
Mung kachori
vada
Moong dal chilka
Brown rice khichdi
Sai bhaji/palakura pappu
dhokla
Conclusion: Dal tadka is a signature dish from north Indian cuisine. Pair it with rice or naan for a great meal.
JLowe says
How long do you pressure cook? I'll use my Instantpot for this! Dal is a favorite of mine and I cannot wait to try this.
bhavana bhatia says
In a traditional stove top pressure cooker, we let it cook until 2-3 whistles. Yes you can use an instant pot for this recipe.