Dal Tadka Recipe, How to make Dal Tadka - Restaurant Style

Dal Tadka is one of the most popular dal recipe served in Indian restaurants. Basically, Dal Tadka are cooked lentils which are lastly tempered with oil or ghee, fried spices & herbs. Tempering is very much a part of cooking Indian food. Infact we temper almost everything like dal, veggie recipe and chutneys.

I simply love the Dal Tadka that is served at the restaurants even though we hardly eat out. So I try to recreate the restaurant magic in most of the food that I make at home.

You can make the dal tadka with any yellow dal (split lentils). I make this lentil dish sometimes with with arhar dal (tuvar dal/split pigeon pea lentils) and masoor dal (split pink lentils) and sometimes only with arhar dal.

Step by step Dal tadka recipe below:

1. Mix ½ cup arhar dal and ½ cup masoor dal or you can take 1 cup arhar dal and rinse a couple of times. Till the time you chop onion and tomato, let the dal soak aside in enough water.
   
2. In a Pressure cooker put the drained lentils, add chopped green chilies, 1 onion chopped, 2 medium sized tomato chopped and grated ginger. Add turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt.
   
3. Pour 2.5 cups water. Stir well.
4. Pressure cook the lentils for about 7 to 8 whistles or more till they become soft.
   
5. Mash the dal with a wired whisk or with a spoon and keep aside. If dal looks thick, then add some hot water to get a medium consistency. Simmer the dal for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the fire.
   
6. Once the desired consistency is reached, add garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves. Mix, so that everything combines well and check salt before tempering. If less then add more.
7. Now heat oil or ghee in small pan. Once it is hot, reduce the fire to low. Add cumin seeds and crackle them. It should be light brown. Add dry red chilies, asafetida and chopped garlic. Switch off the stove and stir fry the garlic.
   
8. Lastly add kasuri methi and red chili powder on the dal and pour the entire tempering along with the oil/ghee over it. By doing so, the red chili powder doesn't burn and gives nice flavor.
   
9. Cover the pan immediately so that aroma mixes in the dal properly.
10. Serve the dal immediately.
    

If you are looking for more dal recipes, then do check Dal Fry restaurant style, Dhaba Dal and Gujarati Dal recipes.

Dal tadka recipe below:

Dal tadka Prep time Cook time Total  10 min  20 min  30 min Dal tadka- Tempered spicy yellow dal AUTHOR: Monali RECIPE TYPE: Main CUISINE: Indian SERVES: 4 INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=240 ml) For dal- ½ cup arhar dal +1/2 cup masoor dal OR 1 cup arhar dal 1 onion, chopped 2 medium sized tomato, chopped 1 green chili, finely chopped ½ inch ginger, grated or finely chopped 1tsp turmeric powder/ haldi A pinch of asafetida/hing ¼ tsp garam masala 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves/ dhaniya patta 2.5 cups of water for pressure cooking Salt as per taste For tempering/tadka- 2tbsp oil or 1.5 tbsp ghee 1tsp cumin seeds/jeers 5 to 6 garlic cloves/lahsun, finely chopped 1tsp kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves, crushed 2to 3 dry red chilies 2 pinches of asafoetida/hing ½ tsp red chili powder 1tbsp chopped coriander leaves/ dhaniya patta for garnishing DIRECTION Dal- Mix both dal and rinse. Till the time you chop onion and tomato, let the dal soak aside in enough water. In a Pressure cooker put the drained lentils, add chopped green chilies, onions, tomato and ginger. Pour 2.5 cups water. Add turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt. Stir well. Pressure cook the lentils for about 7 to 8 whistles or more till they become soft. Mash the dal with a wired whisk or with a spoon and keep aside. If dal looks thick, then add some hot water to get a medium consistency. Simmer the dal for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the fire. Once the desired consistency is reached, add garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves. Mix, so that everything combines well and check salt before tempering. If less then add more. Tempering/tadka- Heat oil or ghee in small pan. Once it is hot, reduce the fire to low. Add cumin seeds and crackle them. It should be light brown. Add dry red chilies, asafetida and chopped garlic. Switch off the stove and stir fry the garlic. Lastly add kasuri methi and red chili powder on the dal and pour the entire tempering along with the oil/ghee over it. By doing so the red chili powder don’t burn and gives nice flavor. Cover the pan immediately so that aroma mixes in the dal properly. TIPS ·         You can also soak dal for 20 minutes before cooking. ·         Dal tadka consistency should be medium, neither thin nor thick. ·         Instead of oil you can temper the dal with ghee/clarified butter. SERVING SUGGESTION ·         You can mix the dal or serve the Dal Tadka with the tempering on top of it. ·         Garnish Dal Tadka with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with steamed basmati rice or Jeera rice or with roti or Laccha paratha.