Dal Tadka
Comforting yellow lentils simmered soft and finished with a sizzling tempering of ghee, cumin and garlic.
Ingredients
| Volume | Grams |
|---|---|
| Dal | |
| 1 cup toor dal or yellow split lentils, rinsed | — |
| 4 cups water | 908 g |
| 1/2 tsp ground turmeric | — |
| 1 tsp table salt | 6 g |
| 1 tomato, chopped | — |
| Tadka | |
| 2 tbsp ghee, or butter | — |
| 1 tsp cumin seeds | — |
| 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced | — |
| 2 dried red chiles | — |
| 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder | — |
| 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped | — |
Gram weights use the King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart; “—” means the ingredient isn’t on the chart, so measure it by volume or count. Measure flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling, or better, weigh it.
Method
- Combine the lentils, water, turmeric and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer partly covered 30–40 minutes, until very soft. Whisk until creamy.
- Stir in the tomato and simmer 5 minutes, adding water if the dal is too thick.
- Heat the ghee in a small skillet until shimmering. Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle, then the garlic and dried chiles until the garlic is golden.
- Take it off the heat, stir in the chili powder, and pour the sizzling tadka over the dal.
- Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice or roti.
Tips
- Pour the tadka on right before serving so it stays fragrant.
- A pressure cooker cuts the lentil time to about 10 minutes.
Baking at elevation? See high-altitude adjustments. Different pan? Try the pan size converter.
Handy while you cook: oven temperature converter · yeast converter · safe meat temperatures · Pantry Survivor Mode