Dal Tadka (Restaurant Style Recipe)

Ingredients

• Pigeon peas

  (red gram), mature seeds, raw

  1 cup or 205g

• Serrano pepper

  Raw

  200g

• Onions

  Raw

  ½ cup, chopped or 80g

• Tomatoes

  Orange, raw

  1 cup, chopped or 158g

• Ginger

  Spices, ground

  1 tsp or 2g

• Turmeric

  Spices, ground

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Curry Paste, Garam Masala

  Patak's

  ³⁄₁₆ tablespoons or 8g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  2 ½ cup or 592g

• Fresh cilantro

  Coriander leaves, raw

  2 tbsp or 2g

• Salt

  Table

  1 dash or 0.4g

• Sesame butter

  Seeds, tahini, from raw and stone ground kernels

  3 tbsp or 45g

• Cumin

  Spices, cumin seed

  1 tsp, whole or 2g

• Garlic

  Raw

  6 cloves, minced or 18g

• Green peppers

  Hot chili, raw

  ½ tsp, chopped or 2g

• Fresh cilantro

  Coriander leaves, raw

  1 tbsp or 1g

• Sesame butter

  Seeds, tahini, from raw and stone ground kernels

  ¼ tsp or 1g

Directions

1. 1. cook lentils
2. 1. Thoroughly rinse 1 cup tuvar dal (arhar dal, or split & husked pigeon pea lentils) in water. Add them to a 3-litre pressure cooker.No pressure cooker? You can also cook the lentils in a pot. Soak the lentils for an hour or two before you cook them in a pot.
3. 2. Add 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes, 1 or 2 green chilies (1 teaspoon of chopped Anaheim pepper or Serrano pepper can be subbed for green chillies) and 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger.
4. 3. Pour 2.5 cups of water into the pressure cooker. If cooking in a pot, then about 4 to 4.5 cups of water can be added.
5. 4. Add 1/2 turmeric powder and 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing). If you do not have asafoetida, then skip it. 5. Mix well.
6. 6. Pressure cook the lentils for about 7-8 whistles, or until they become soft and creamy. Mash the cooked lentils with a wired whisk or with a spoon and keep aside. If the consistency looks thick, then add about 1/2 - 1 cup water (depending on the thickness) to get a medium consistency. Simmer dal for 3 to 4 minutes.
7. 7. Once the desired consistency is reached, add 1-2 tablespoons low-fat cream (optional), 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder, 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and salt to taste. Switch off the the heat.
8. 8. Mix well so that everything combines uniformly. Taste and adjust salt before adding tadka.
9. 2. Smoke lentils using dhungar method (optional)
10. 10. To get the smoky fumes of burnt charcoal like you would in a restaurant, you'll want to follow the dhungar method. Using tongs, place a small piece of charcoal on a grill pan like shown in the photo below. Burn the charcoal till it becomes red hot. Please be sure to use natural charcoal for this method, avoiding anything that has a flame accelerant added. Note that this is an optional step - you can proceed directly to the tempering method.
11. 11. Place the red hot charcoal in a small steel bowl. You can also use a halved hollow onion instead of the bowl.
12. 12. Pour about 1/4 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.
13. 13. Place this bowl on the dal.
14. 14. Cover the cooker or pot with a lid and let the dal get infused. Only smoke for 1-2 minutes. Do not keep for a long time, or you'll risk making the dal taste bitter. Remove the bowl carefully with the help of tongs and cover the cooker with a lid. Set aside.
15. make the tempering (tadka or chaunk)
16. 15. Next, heat 3 tablespoons oil or ghee (clarified butter) in a small pan over low-medium heat. First, add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and crackle them. The cumin should get fried and not be raw, but be careful not burn them.
17. 16. Now add 2 to 3 dry red chilies, a generous pinch of asafoetida, and 5-6 medium sized garlic cloves which have been finely chopped. Let the garlic brown lightly and the red chilies change color. Do not burn the garlic.
18. 17. Lastly, add 1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi (fenugreek seeds) and 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper. Mix well and turn off the stove.
19. 18. Pour entire tempering along with the oil or ghee into the dal.
20. 19. You can either mix the dal with tempering, or serve the dal tadka with the tempering on top it. I personally like the aesthetic of having the tadka floating on top. Garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy!
21. Serving Suggestion: Serve dal tadka hot with steamed basmati rice or jeera rice (cumin rice), or with roti, naan or paratha.
22. Recipe by: Dassana Amit (source: https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/restaurant-style-dal-tadka/)