Dal Tadka

Ingredients

• Lentils

  Sprouted, raw

  1 cup or 77g

• Pace diced green chilies

  Campbell soup company

  100g

• Onions

  Sweet, raw

  ½ onion or 166g

• Tomatoes

  Red, ripe, raw, year round average

  1 medium whole or 123g

• Ginger

  Spices, ground

  1 tsp or 2g

• Turmeric

  Spices, ground

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Curry powder

  Spices

  1 tbsp or 6g

• Fenugreek seed

  Spices

  1 tsp or 4g

• Sunflower oil

  Linoleic, (approx. 65%)

  2 tbsp or 27g

• Cumin

  Spices, cumin seed

  ½ tsp, whole or 1g

• Garlic

  Raw

  4 clove or 12g

• Red peppers

  Hot chili, raw

  200g

• Chili powder

  Spices

  ½ tbsp or 4g

Directions

1. paring the lentils: 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 to the lentils, add chopped onions, tomato, green chilies, ginger. pour 2.5 cups water. if cooking in a pot, then about 4 to 4.5 cups water can be added. add turmeric powder and asafoetida. stir well. 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 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. 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. mix well so that everything combines uniformly. check salt before you add the tempering. if less than add more salt. dhungar method (optional): next is the dhungar method of flavoring the dal with the smoky fumes of burnt charocal. for this with the help of tongs or on a grill pan like shown in the pic below, place the a small piece of charcoal. burn the charcoal till it becomes red hot. please use natural charcoal for this method.note that this is an optional step and you can proceed directly to the tempering method. place the red hot charcoal in a small steel bowl. pour about ¼ tsp of oil or ghee on the charcoal. you will see fumes emanating as soon as you pour oil or ghee on the hot charcoal. place this bowl on the dal. cover the cooker or the pot with a lid and let the dal get infused with the charcoal smoke. just keep for 1 to 2 minutes. the more you keep. the more smoky the dal will become. remove the bowl carefully with the helps of tongs and cover the dal. keep aside. preparing the tempering/tadka/chaunk: 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. now add red chilies, asafoetida and chopped garlic. let the garlic brown and the red chilies change color. 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. pour the entire tempering along with the oil/ghee into the dal. 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. NOTES few suggestions for making dal tadka recipe: 1. instead of oil you can temper the dal with ghee/clarified butter. 2. the dal tadka consistency is neither thick nor thin but medium. but if you prefer you can go for a slightly thick or thin dal consistency. 3. you can also soak the dal for 30 to 40 minutes before cooking them. [br]for cooking the lentils in a pot. soak the lentils for about 1 to 2 hours. drain and rinse then well in water. in a deep pot, add 4 to 5 cups water added to the lentils. add the rest of the ingredients mentioned in the recipe. cover and cook the lentils. if the water begins to froth and bubble, then remove the lid or cover it partly and continue to cook the lentils till they become soft and creamy. if the water becomes less, then add some hot water. once the lentils are cooked (takes from 45 mins to an hour or sometimes more… depends on the quality of the lentils). then follow the recipe further.