One of the few dishes my hubby cooks is ‘dal’ or lentil soup or stew. You can call it by any name; but it is a simple but tasty dish. I don’t know whether my grandma knew about carbohydrates and protein, but she always cooked a balanced diet of carbohydrates and protein, usually the protein part of our food is occupied by lentils, beans, milk, cheese etc. Indian menu always comprise a protein rich curry and carbohydrates like rice, or wheat along with cooked veggies. We rarely eat raw vegetables, and mostly cooked and converted it into curries, stir fries etc.
My hubby and princess love this dal, and it is usually my hubby who makes this dal. I would only pressure cook the lentils and give him that, and from there on he will take over. If you go to any Indian restaurant, you will see Dal tadka and Dal fry in the menu. Both dishes are cooked with Masoor dal and spilt pigeon’s peas, even though sometimes toor dal is used. If you ask me what is difference I will say in the first tempering or seasoning is done at last where as second one tempering starts in beginning and rest of the ingredients added as cooking continuous.
Our lentil love starts as soon as we start weaning from mother’s milk; the little ones are fed with cooked dal water with a little salt added to it. Then when they are ready to eat table foods, they will be fed with mashed dal/lentils and rice along with some ghee. Once their tooth department is full means mouth full of teeth, they will be encouraged to eat chapathi and dal.
The dal tadka is north Indian style of cooking lentils, where as in my home town we prepare parippu curry/ spilt moong dal cooked with coconut and green chili. It is most common in our feast. I usually lure my husband to cook dal saying that I will make chapathi today, can you make dal. His answer will be immediately yes. I don’t know he doesn’t like my way of cooking dal. If I make it he will say it is good but I can make better than this. Since I heard it a few times, I thought why am I wasting ingredients and getting this compliment. So let him cook it.
Only problem of his cooking is he starts putting pan in the stove first then starts cutting onion, tomato, and ginger-garlic. He makes a mess, some time if he is in good mood, he will clean the dishes, and actually he hates doing dishes. So I will help him to get back my kitchen in order.
I don’t know what magic he does, his dal curries are always tasty; my princess will come back and forth with plates to take chapathi and dal alternatively. He cooked this dal tadka but main part tempering or seasoning part is done by me. So you can call it a combined effort.
For this I first pressure cook the dal, and I used a combo of 5 mixed lentils; ( Mix includes masoor dal (split red lentil), yellow moong dal (split yellow gram), Chana dal ( Split chick peas) , Urad dal( split black gram) and Toor dal ( split yellow pigeon peas) . Then I heated the oil and added onion and green chili and then ginger garlic paste and tomato, and cooked until tomato becomes soft and then add cooked dal. And cook for a minute and switch it off. To this add tempering or seasoning.
Traditionally tempering or seasoning at the end of cooking is made with ghee to make it rich. But my health consciousness prevented me from using ghee; I used oil, seasoned with cumin seeds, mustard seeds and red chili.
Grab your ingredients
Once it is seasoned it is ready to dig in, you can have it with chapathi or rice. I will go for chapathi.
Trust me some time simple dishes can make your day. These are little homemade comfort waiting for you. So if you are lentil lover, then go for it.
Print recipe from here
Dal Tadka/ Seasoned Lentil Stew
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Serves 5
Ingredients
¾ cup 5 mixed dals ( Mix includes masoor dal (split red lentil), yellow moong dal (split yellow gram), Chana dal ( Split chick peas) , Urad dal( split black gram) and Toor dal ( split yellow pigeon peas)
1 green chilies, slit
1 teaspoon grated ginger (adrak)
1 teaspoon grated garlic (lehsun)
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
¾ cup Chopped onions
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
¾ cup Chopped onions
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
salt to taste
For seasoning
½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds ( Jeera seeds)
1 whole dry kashmiri red chilli, broken into pieces
¾ cup 5 mixed dals ( Mix includes masoor dal (split red lentil), yellow moong dal (split yellow gram), Chana dal ( Split chick peas) , Urad dal( split black gram) and Toor dal ( split yellow pigeon peas)
1 green chilies, slit
1 teaspoon grated ginger (adrak)
1 teaspoon grated garlic (lehsun)
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
¾ cup Chopped onions
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
¾ cup Chopped onions
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
salt to taste
For seasoning
½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds ( Jeera seeds)
1 whole dry kashmiri red chilli, broken into pieces
For the garnish
3 tablespoon chopped Cilantro/ coriander (dhania)
How We made:
Clean, wash and soak mixed dals in water for 20 minutes.
Drain, add 3 cups of water and pressure cook till the dals are tender. It takes about 25 minutes.
Make sure that steam is completely escaped before opening the lid.
Whisk so as to mash the dals. Keep aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add onion and chopped green chilies and cook until onion is translucent or change color.
Then add tomato, ginger garlic paste and salt and cook for 2 -3 minutes or until tomatoes are mushy and become soft.
To this add cooked dal and mix everything to combine well.
For the tempering/seasoning, heat ½ tablespoon oil in a deep pan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and red chili. When the mustard seeds crackle, remove from the fire and add to cooked dal.
Serve hot garnished with cilantro/ coriander leaves.
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Leeni says
Hey! Made it today but somehow mine came out quite watery! 🙁 otherwise very delicious but the flavour wasn't so strong because of the amount of water. Might have been my mistake, though, since we don't use cups as measurement
Swathi says
Sorry for the watery dal, May be next time you can reduce the amount of water. Thanks for giving me the feed back.
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
very different and healthy side for roti!!!! bookmarking it!!!
Sowmya
Ongoing Event - Tried and Tasted - Raks Kitchen
Ongoing Event - Dish it out - Lentils & Garlic
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Archana Potdar says
Awesome delicious and healthy.
Kaveri Venkatesh says
Dal is my hubby's favorite too...it is also one of the dishes he prepares..Looks really yum!
Lena Rashmin Raj says
awesome Swathi..snaps are too good.. 🙂
Rita Bose says
Tadka dal looks delicious! Drooling here,Swathi!!
Amrita Vishal says
You have made the humble dal look highly exotic!!We love to have our dal the same way
Sangeetha Priya says
Healthy dhal, loved ur clicks too Swathi!!!
Reeni Pisano says
Your dal looks utterly delicious! Your pictures are so inviting! What a lovely post - love hearing the story behind it.
Gauri says
A hot bowl of this dal is perfect with rice! love the pics
Shailaja Reddy says
Healthy and different taste.
Janani says
All time favorite yummyy dal.
Julie says
yummy tempting dal,looks delicious!!
Flavors Of Cuisines-"Mexican"
Treatntrick Treat and Trick says
Healthy combo and delicious! This is my favorite too...
Swati Raman Garg says
hello name buddy ... same pinch again.. me to makes my tadka mostly like this .. a mix of the dals... isnt it just wonderful.. and loved ur way or quickly summarizing the steps..
Rumana Ambrin says
Very yummy looking dal.. I cook this dal very often.
Amuds says
Lovely pictures swathi...
http://Www.cookndine.blogspot.in
PT says
would love to try it with naan.. delicious dal..
Nandini M says
One of my favourites! Looks so comforting!
Veena Theagarajan says
comforting Dhal
http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com
Jeya Jemini says
love this dal...nice combo for rice...we too prepare parippu curry as the same way you prepare(with coconut & green chilli)
http://mystylerecipes.blogspot.com
Kitchen Queen says
lovely dal.
Vineetha says
What a click dear..so beautiful..love ur pathram too...the dish looks super !!
Ramya Krishnamurthy says
yummy and delicious:)
Priya R says
vibrant and delicious dal Swathi 🙂 really this is Indian comfort food
Ramya Krishnamurthy says
healthy and comfort food:)so delicious:)
padma priya says
Love the colourful tadka,book mark it.
http://www.soundaryasbeautyworld.com
Maha Gadde says
very healthy n so tempting
Angie's Recipes says
This looks so flavourful and mouthwatering!
Sanoli Ghosh says
Very well explained and fabulous looking dal tadka Swathi.
today's post:
http://sanolisrecipies.blogspot.com/2013/02/broccoli-in-yogurt-sauce-dahi-broccoli.html
Guru Uru says
What an incredible daal my friend 😀
Cheers
CCU
ente pachakasala says
healthy n tasty dal..i never added ginger in dal curries i m actually drop lots of garlic...next time will try ur version
Padhu says
My comfort food!
Gayu says
Love the step-wise pics..Anytime comfort food for me...
Gayu
Kitchen - The Chef 's Paradise
kausers kitchen says
Wow dal looks so inviting and delicious.
Sireesha Puppala says
Aha the dal bowl is so perfect n inviting..need those rotis with a ladle of dal..
Shruti Dhingra Wahi says
Mouthwatering !!! Would like to have this with boiled rice 🙂
ShrutiRasoi
Today's Recipe
Fruit Salad with Yogurt Dressing
Divya Shivaraman says
well explained swathi. easy,delicious recipe
Navaneetham Krishnan says
My hubby's fav too but he has never ever made it at home. I will do the honor of cooking and he will enjoy the dhal. Its lovely and deliciously prepared, prefect for white rice.
Latha Madhusudhan says
Lovely colour and looks very tempting daal.
Rafeeda A. Raheem says
i could have it as it is, Swathi... comfort food at its best! 🙂
cookingvarieties says
hi swathi, wow, just simply love this- i kind of like the mixing of 5 dhals in this curry- authentic recipe! bookmark with thanks. have a nice day
Eric Pepple says
Wow this looks spectacular and I absolutely love your photography! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sincerely,
Happy Valley Chow
Sona S says
looks inviting and delicious, and nice clicks..
Spill the Spices
Premalatha Aravindhan says
wow delicious recipe swathi,loved ur step vise clicks...well explained.
Arthy Suman says
I love the tempering looks delicious....love the aroma of it....