Dal Tadka - Restaurant Style Dal Tadka

"Dal" is the staple Indian food which is widely eaten across all regions of India. Dal varieties differ from state to state and as a result there are so many varieties of Dals across India. Out of that, Dal Fry and Dal Tadka are the popular food items that are seen in almost every food menu of the Indian  Restaurants. Initially I was quite confused with the two items and I was pretty sure that they were made out of the same main ingredient Dal. Later I understood why they were called differently and its only the preparation process that actually differentiates them. 

In this post, I am blogging the recipe of Dal Tadka. Dal Tadka is a very popular dhaba food item tempered with aromatic spices and it tastes very good with hot hot rotis. Tadka means tempering in hindi which the tempering acts like a garnish to the protein rich lentil stew. Sometimes even the simplest menu choices make the meal more delicious and gives us warmth. And the combo of a simple Dal Tadka with roti is the one which reminds us of our mother all the time.

Ingredients

Masoor Dal - 1 cup

Moong Dal - 3/4 cup

Tomato diced into small cubes - 1/2 cup

Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup

Garlic Pods - 3 or 4

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - As Required

Water - As Required for the Dal consistency

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Tempering / Tadka :

Oil - 2 tsp ( To be tempered with ghee instead of oil for rich taste, add 2 to 3 tsps of ghee and do the tempering)

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 1.5 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6

Dry Red Chillies - 2 Medium

Method

• Pressure cook the dal mixture of Masoor dal and Moong dal, tomato, onion, garlic  for 4-5 whistles till they cook perfectly and get pasty. Add a tsp of turmeric powder to the contents in the pressure cooker before actually started cooking them.
• After the pressure settles down completely, open the cooker and mash the cooked dal mixture. Add some water if its too thick and bring them to the right consistency.
• On low flame, allow the dal to get cooked with lid open. Then, add required amount of salt, grated ginger to the dal. Simultaneously, do the tempering on the other stove.
• In a small tempering pan, add all the ingredients for tempering to the oil and pour the tempering over the dal mixture.
• Garnish the dal that's tempered with these aromatic spices and serve with hot rotis.

Tips / Suggestions 

Addition of a tsp of ghee to the dal tadka gives more flavour and enhances the taste of the dal. But its totally optional.

I would suggest you to dry roast the dal mixture for a minute before actually cooking them.