Dal Tadka Recipe

So you may remember the post I made about the difficulty in finding Indian food recipes, but I found a really good one that I wanted to share! It's Dal Tadka, which is a lentil dish with tempered spices. I cooked this last week and it turned out really well!

For the Dal ^ 1 cup lentils ^ 1 to 2 green chillies ^ 1 medium onion, chopped ^ 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped ^ 1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped or grated ^ 1 tsp turmeric powder ^ a pinch or two of garam masala powder ^ a pinch of asafetida ^ 2.5 cups of water for pressure cooking, 4.5 cups for a pot ^ 1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves, crushed ^ 1 or 2 tbsp. cream (optional) ^ 1 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves ^ salt as required

For the tempering/tadka ^ 2 tbsp. oil or 1.5 tbsp. ghee or butter ^ 1 tsp cumin seeds ^ 5 to 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped ^ 2 to 3 red chilies ^ a pinch of asafetida ^ 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Instructions

preparing the lentils: 1.rinse the lentils and add them to the pressure cooker. the below pic shows only tuvar or arhar dal. you can also cook the lentils in a pot. just soak the lentils for an hour or two before you cook them in a pot. cooking the lentils in a pot, will take more time than cooking in the pressure cooker. method on how to cook lentils in a pot is mentioned in the notes section of recipe details below 2.to the lentils, add chopped onions, tomato, green chilies, ginger. 3.pour 2.5 cups water. if cooking in a pot, then about 4 to 4.5 cups water can be added. 4.add turmeric powder and asafoetida. stir well. 5.pressure cook the lentils for about 7 to 8 whistles or more till they become soft and creamy. mash the dal with a wired whisk or with a spoon and keep aside. if the dal looks thick, then add some water to get a medium consistency. simmer the dal for 3 to 4 minutes. pic of the consistency of the lentils in step 6 6.once the desired consistency is reached, add cream (optional), garam masala powder, crushed kasuri methi, chopped coriander leaves and salt. switch off the fire. please note crushed kasuri methi can also be added in the tempering later and skipped at this step. 7.once the desired consistency is reached, add cream (optional), garam masala powder, crushed kasuri methi, chopped coriander leaves and salt. switch off the fire. please note crushed kasuri methi can also be added in the tempering later and skipped at this step. 8.mix well so that everything combines uniformly. check salt before you add the tempering. if less than add more salt.

preparing the tempering/tadka/chaunk: 1.next heat oil or ghee or butter in a small pan. first add cumin seeds and crackle them. the cumin should get fried and not be raw but don't burn them. 2.now add red chilies, asafoetida and chopped garlic. let the garlic brown and the red chilies change color. 3.lastly add kasuri methi (add kasuri methi, if you have not added before to the dal) and red chili powder. stir and switch off the stove. make sure to fry the tempering ingredients at a low flame, so that you don't burn them. 4.pour the entire tempering along with the oil/ghee into the dal. 5.you can mix the dal or serve the dal tadka with the tempering on top it. garnish dal tadka with coriander leaves. serve dal tadka hot with steamed basmati rice, jeera rice or with rotis or phulkas.

I found this recipe from Veg recipies of india which is a great website! I hope you enjoy it!

bon appetit