Dal Tadka is a popular recipe which is served at restaurants and serves as a great sidedish for jeera rice,phulka or just plain rice. I had requests to post different dal recipes.....I have tasted dal tadka twice when they served at buffet lunch and I love it with plain basmati rice.I have already posted Dal Fry..... Now here is dal tadka recipe.Tadka means tempering which plays a major part in any indian recipes.You can try out dal tadka using any combination of dal but I used toor dal and masoor dal.

I always had the confusion whats the difference between dal fry and dal tadka...and here is my find :

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 : 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 Recipe - Ingredients

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

Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Masoor Dal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 2 tbsp
Onion -1 chopped finely
Tomato - 1 medium sized chopped roughly
Ginger - 1/2 tsp finely chopped
Garlic - 2 chopped roughly
Green Chilli - 1 slitted
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
Water - as required
Salt - to taste

To temper:

Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Hing - a tiny pinch
Jeera - 1 tsp
Garlic - 1 tsp minced
Red Chillies - 1 whole

Method:

Get your dals ready.Mix the dals, rinse it well and soak it for 15mins,Set aside. Meanwhile in a pressure cooker heat oil - add onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli and fry till onion turn golden brown. How to make dal fry - Step1

Then add tomatoes and fry till raw smell leaves, add garam masala powder and fry well.Then add dals along with turmeric powder,required salt and 2 cups of water.
How to make dal fry - Step2

Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or until the dal is soft and mushy.Once pressure releases give a quick stir with a laddle.In a tadka pan - add the ingredients listed under 'to temper' and fry till garlic turns golden brown.Transfer the tempering to the dal and garnish with coriander leaves.
How to make dal fry - Step3

Serve hot with rice or roti(phulka)!
Restaurant Style Dal Tadka Recipe

My Notes:

While tempering add ghee and oil mixed.After tempering and the dal is mixed well then drizzle a tsp of ghee in the dal.
Soaking dals is optional but cooks faster and softer.
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.
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.
Dal thickens with time so switch it off accordingly.

Dal Tadka Recipe - Restaurant Style Punjabi Dal Tadka

Dal Tadka Recipe - Ingredients

To temper:

Method:

My Notes: