Quick and Easy Dal Tadka - Lentil curry
Dal is very nutritious (high in protein) and a very important part of Indian cuisine. I make different kinds of recipes (sambar, spinach dal, pitlai, kootu, etc) with different kinds of dals/lentils (toor, masoor, channa, urad and moong).
This is my go to recipe when I am running short of time. It takes about 15 mins from start to finish and can be served with rice, papad and pickle on the side. It can also be served as soup on wintry cold days.
Ingredients:
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Tomato (chopped) - 1 big or 2 small
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - 1/4 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Salt - 1 to 2 tsp (as per your taste)
Cilantro (coriander leaves) - few
To Season:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Dried red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhania powder - 1/4 tsp
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Method:
Add washed toor dal, chopped tomato, jeera, turmeric powder and hing along with 2 cups of water to a pressure cooker.
Cook for about 5-6 whistles. Let it cool down a bit, release the pressure and open.
Add salt and a cup of water. If the dal is well cooked, you should be able to mash it with a laddle. If not you can use an immersion blender to mash it up. It should look like this after mashing.
One of my kiddos cannot handle any spice. So I always take a little bit of dal at this stage before adding the seasoning and reserve it for her. This way its easier to cater to different spice levels. This is also perfect for babies. You can add ghee and feed it as it is or with some mashed up rice or even baby cereal.
Seasoning is a very crucial step. It is infusing the oil with different spices. Also it is very important to heat the seasoning vessel first, then to heat the oil and the add the ingredients. Skipping any of these steps will change the flavor of the final product.
Heat a small pan for seasoning. Once hot add oil or ghee. After it is hot add the mustard seeds. Wait till it starts spluttering. Then add the methi seeds, jeera seeds, dried red chillies, hing, curry leaves, chilli powder, dhania powder and amchur powder (in the same order). Fry it in low heat for another minute and then turn it off. Be careful to not burn the powders as it will turn very bitter and spoil the whole dish.
Add the seasoning to the dal and mix well.
Heat the dal for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve hot with rice or just by itself as a soup.
This is also a perfect recipe during lockdown / social distancing timed as it does not require a lot of fresh ingredients. You can totally skip the fresh tomato, curry leaves, cilantro and add 2 tbsp of canned tomato paste and dried kasoori methi leaves instead.
This is my go to recipe when I am running short of time. It takes about 15 mins from start to finish and can be served with rice, papad and pickle on the side. It can also be served as soup on wintry cold days.
Ingredients:
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Tomato (chopped) - 1 big or 2 small
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - 1/4 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Salt - 1 to 2 tsp (as per your taste)
Cilantro (coriander leaves) - few
To Season:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Dried red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhania powder - 1/4 tsp
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Method:
Add washed toor dal, chopped tomato, jeera, turmeric powder and hing along with 2 cups of water to a pressure cooker.
Cook for about 5-6 whistles. Let it cool down a bit, release the pressure and open.
Add salt and a cup of water. If the dal is well cooked, you should be able to mash it with a laddle. If not you can use an immersion blender to mash it up. It should look like this after mashing.
One of my kiddos cannot handle any spice. So I always take a little bit of dal at this stage before adding the seasoning and reserve it for her. This way its easier to cater to different spice levels. This is also perfect for babies. You can add ghee and feed it as it is or with some mashed up rice or even baby cereal.
Seasoning is a very crucial step. It is infusing the oil with different spices. Also it is very important to heat the seasoning vessel first, then to heat the oil and the add the ingredients. Skipping any of these steps will change the flavor of the final product.
Heat a small pan for seasoning. Once hot add oil or ghee. After it is hot add the mustard seeds. Wait till it starts spluttering. Then add the methi seeds, jeera seeds, dried red chillies, hing, curry leaves, chilli powder, dhania powder and amchur powder (in the same order). Fry it in low heat for another minute and then turn it off. Be careful to not burn the powders as it will turn very bitter and spoil the whole dish.
Add the seasoning to the dal and mix well.
Heat the dal for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve hot with rice or just by itself as a soup.
This is also a perfect recipe during lockdown / social distancing timed as it does not require a lot of fresh ingredients. You can totally skip the fresh tomato, curry leaves, cilantro and add 2 tbsp of canned tomato paste and dried kasoori methi leaves instead.
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