Dal Tadka – restaurant style yellow lentils

Dal Tadka is a restaurant style yellow dal served with a tempering or tarka of ghee and whole red chillies. It is one of those comforting but luscious dishes that are easy to make at home yet a treat to order at a restaurant. You know that feeling? Like a grilled cheese sandwich can be good at home but somehow its arrival on the table – hot and oozing with melting cheese just takes the experience to a whole new level. That’s what its like with Dal Tadka or Tarka Dal. A simple blend of split moong and masoor cooked to a creamy consistency and flavored with a few spices that together create a soothing experience that the palette will crave more of, spoon after spoon.

Dal – Sabzi; the mains of a classic Indian meal

Dal or lentils are so common in a meal at home that the question often isn’t just what do you want to eat for dinner, but rather “kaunsi dal-sabzi khani hai?” i.e. which dal – sabzi do you want to eat! The Indian plate, in my case the North Indian platter, will usually have one dry sabzi (cooked vegetables), a wet dish (like a dal or gravy based preparation), dahi (curd or yogurt) served with chapati (roti, naan, puri) and/or rice. Then, there might be an assortment of salad and condiments like chutneys and achars. It is a full plate as you can imagine! So, when it comes to cooking such a meal most people will multitask and fire up multiple burners on the stovetop. Put dal on one and sabzi on the other. That’s what I do too!

Dal-Chawal for lunch

The combination of dhuli moong and dhuli masoor is exceedingly common in northern India from Uttar Pradesh all the way to Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. It is a staple that is cooked almost everyday. In U.P. and M.P. people mix it with rice for lunch whereas in Punjab people are more prone to eating wheat and hence, chapatis. My father, a Punjabi who grew up in M.P., would pipe up to the question about lunch to say, “dal-chawal bana do” i.e. make dal and rice. Which dal? Peeli (yellow) dal, of course! Which yellow dal? Moong-Masoor, duh. Full disclaimer, yellow dal isn’t just moong-masoor, another popular one is Arhar (Toor/split pigeon pea) then there is Chana dal (split chickpea), dhuli Urad (split and husked Urad), often cooked in a drier preparation and, maybe some more that I cannot recall. You can hear Sakshi and I talk about dals and read about the variety we stock in our pantries on the Kitchenpostcards Podcast Episode on Staples.

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Let’s make Dal Tadka

Moong and masoor are often cooked together. And in this recipe there are essentially three stages of cooking. Ingredients are listed in that order below. You’ll need a pressure cooker, or an instant pot or a large pot such as a dutch oven to cook this dal.

Ingredients:

For the First Tadka:

• Oil 1 tbsp
• Heeng a pinch or two
• Garlic 2-3 pods, smashed and chopped
• Ginger 1 inch piece, chopped
• Green chili 1, chopped (optional)
• Onion 1 or 1/2 based on size, chopped
• Tomato 1, chopped
• Salt 1 tsp, adjust to taste
• Turmeric 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
• Coriander 1 tsp
• Black pepper 1/2 tsp, ground

The dals for a total of 1/2 Cup

• Moong dal 1/4 cup
• Masoor dal 1/4 cup
• Water – 1 1/2 to 2 cups

Final Tadka:

• Ghee 1 tbsp
• Jeera 1 tsp (can also add some Rai or mustard seeds)
• Kashmiri laal mirch powder 1/2 tsp (for color)
• Whole red chillies 2-3
• Coriander fresh – chopped to garnish (optional)

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Cooking Dal Tadka:

First, wash dals until water runs clear. Then add more water and let them soak while prepping other ingredients.

First Tadka:

As I mentioned earlier, there are two tadke or temperings involved in this recipe. The first one is done right at the beginning. Gather ingredients from the list above. Clean and chop onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and a green chili. Next, put a pressure cooker on the stove at medium high heat until it warms up. Add oil to it followed by heeng i.e. asafetida. Let it bloom for a few seconds. Next, add all the chopped ingredients and sauté them until the onions are translucent and tomatoes soft. To this add the ground spices – turmeric, coriander powder, red chili, ground black pepper and salt. Reduce the heat and cook until the spices are fragrant.

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Pressure cooking the dals

Add soaking dals to the pressure cooker and sauté for just a minute. Then add one and a half to two cups of water. Close the lid and pressure cook on high heat until the first whistle. Lower the heat to medium low and continue simmering until the second whistle. After that turn off the heat and let the pressure reduce until the safety valve drops and it is safe to open the lid.

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A little patience goes a long way!

Open the cooker, stir the dal and then simmer on low heat until creamy. Either keep the cooker open or just lightly covered with the lid but not closed. Transfer to a serving dish and prepare the final tadka for this Dal Tarka!

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Final Tadka for Dal Tadka

This final tadka is what Dal Tadka is all about! Truthfully, the dal is cooked and already flavored with the spices we need. The final flourish of ghee with whole red chillies and jeera adds just the oomph it needs. In a small pan warm up ghee, add jeera, whole red chillies and a little bit of Kashmiri laal mirch. This powdered chili is mild in flavour but full of color and adds a beautiful, rich color to the tadka. Cook until the cumin seeds are spluttering, then pour the tadka all over the dal. If keen, garnish with fresh coriander. I skip it at times.

This method of cooking is very akin to the Panchmel Dal. Another recipe that is simple but luscious.

Dal Tadka is ready!

Serve this dal with fresh warm chapatis, sabzi, curd, rice, salad and a condiment. Need ideas for what to cook along? Try some Bhindi or Khatte Baingan. Next time you see Dal Tadka or Tarka Dal on a restaurant menu, you’ll know what to expect. Happy cooking!

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