I had many requests from readers to post more dal recipes.....Dal Fry is another popular Punjabi recipe which goes well with jeera rice,phulka or just plain rice. I have already posted Dal Tadka...though both dals have their unique taste and flavour I love dal fry the best among the 2 but still the humble tadka dal is my favorite with phulkas.I always had the confusion whats the difference between dal fry and dal tadka...and here is my find :

Dal Fry : The dal is pressure cooked first and added with tadka ingredients along with a mixture of onion,tomato ginger and garlic mixture and the dal is boiled for few mins which gives a great flavour.

Dal Tadka : The dal is pressure cooked along with onion,tomato first.Then the tadka tempering is done in ghee and added to dal and is ready to be served.Here the tadka tempering is the main flavour given to the dal.

Dal Fry Recipe - Ingredients

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Sidedish | Recipe Cuisine: North Indian

Toor Dal - 3/4 cup
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong Dal - 2.5 tbsp
Onion -1 chopped finely
Tomato - 2 medium sized chopped roughly
Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
Garlic - 2 tsp finely chopped + 2 whole crushed
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1 tsp crushed
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Water - as required
Salt - to taste

To temper:

Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a sprig
Red Chillies - 1 whole
Green Chillies - 1 finely chopped

Method:

Get your dals ready(the measures shown in the pic below does not match the quantity in the ingredients list, this is just to show the dals).Mix the dals, rinse it well and pressure cook with 2.5 cups(till immersing level) of water,1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and a tsp of oil for 5 whistles or until the dal turn mushy. How to make dal fry - Step1

Using a laddle mash it up.Get your other ingredients ready meanwhile.Heat oil + ghee in a pan - add the items listed under 'to temper' let it splutter then add ginger, garlic and saute till slightly brown.
How to make dal fry - Step2

Then add onion and saute till it turns transparent, then add tomato and remaining 1/4 tsp turmeric powder saute till raw smell of tomatoes leave.Then add cooked dal.
How to make dal fry - Step3

Add required water till it becomes little runny.Check for salt and adjust at this stage.Simmer and let it boil for 5mins. Then add coriander leaves and give a quick stir.At the stage of switching off, crush kasoori methi and add it.Give a stir and switch off.Drizzle lemon juice while serving.
How to make dal fry - Step4

Serve hot with rice or roti(phulka)!
Dal Fry Recipe

My Notes:

While serving drizzle a tsp of ghee for extra flavour.
The measurement of dal I have given is according to our taste and liking, feel free to experiment.
The consitency should neither thick nor runny, should be inbetween the 2 as you can see in the pics.
You can even use just toor dal alone or a mix of massor dal and toor dal. I wanted to have all the 3 dals and it tasted so good. Dont add mong dal more than the mentioned amount as it may make the dal fry sticky.
Adding green chillies and red chillies together gives a great flavour.You can skip the chillies and add 1/2 tsp red chilli powder instead.
Add kasoori methi only at the last stage else it will make the dal slightly bitter.
Dal thickens with time so switch it off accordingly.

Dal Fry Recipe (Restaurant Style Dal Fry) - How to make dal fry

Dal Fry Recipe - Ingredients

To temper:

Method:

My Notes: