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Dal Tadka Recipe (Restaurant Style)
4.9 from 303 votes

Dal Tadka Recipe (Restaurant Style)

Dal Tadka is a restaurant-style Indian lentil dish featuring cooked toor dal combined with flavorful tempering of cumin, garlic, dry red chilies, and spices fried in oil or ghee. The dal is cooked with onions, tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger until soft and creamy, then topped with a hot spice-infused tadka that adds aroma and depth. It balances mild, creamy lentils with a spicy, fragrant seasoning.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings: 4
Calories: 213 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For cooking lentils
  • 1 cup or (200 grams) toor dal arhar dal, tur dal or split pigeon pea lentils) or ½ cup tuvar dal + ½ cup masoor dal (split red lentils
  • 1 to 2 green chilies or serrano peppers - chopped or slit lengthwise
  • ½ cup onion chopped
  • 1 cup tomato finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger - finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (hing), optional
  • 2.5 cups water - for pressure cooking
  • 1 tablespoon light cream or low fat cream, optional
  • 2 tablespoons Coriander leaves - chopped, (cilantro)
  • salt as required
For tempering or tadka
  • 3 tablespoon neutral cooking oil or 3 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter, generic cooking oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 5 to 6 garlic finely chopped, small to medium-sized, cloves
  • 2 to 3 red chili broken and seeds removed, dry
  • 1 generous pinch of asafoetida (hing), optional
  • 1 teaspoon kasuri methi - crushed, (dry fenugreek leaves), optional
  • ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or cayenne pepper or paprika
For garnish
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons Coriander leaves - chopped (cilantro)
For dhungar method
  • 1 small piece of natural charcoal
  • ¼ teaspoon neutral cooking oil or ghee (clarified butter, generic cooking oil

Instructions

Cook lentils
    Cup of Yum
  1. Thoroughly rinse tuvar dal (tur dal) in water. Add them to a 3-litre stovetop pressure cooker.You can also cook the lentils in a pot. Soak the lentils for an hour or two before you cook them in a pot adding water as needed.If cooking in a pot, you could add about 3 to 3.5 cups of water.
  2. Add the chopped onions, finely chopped tomatoes, chopped green chillies and finely chopped ginger.
  3. Pour 2.5 cups of water into the pressure cooker.
  4. Add turmeric powder and asafoetida (hing). Mix well.
  5. Pressure cook the lentils on medium to medium-high heat for about 7 to 8 whistles (about 8 to 10 minutes), or until the lentils become soft and creamy.
  6. Let the pressure drop naturally in the cooker and then only open the lid. Check the lentils to see if they have cooked thoroughly and softened.
  7. Mash the cooked lentils with a wired whisk or with a spoon and set aside.
  8. If the consistency looks thick, add about ½ to 1 cup water (depending on the thickness) to get a medium consistency. Mix again and on a low to medium-low heat simmer dal for 3 to 4 minutes.
  9. Once the desired consistency is reached, add the light cream or low-fat cream (optional), garam masala powder, chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and salt to taste. Turn off the the heat.
  10. Mix well so that everything combines to an even consistency. Taste and adjust salt before adding tadka.
Smoke lentils using dhungar method (optional)
  1. To get the smoky flavor of burnt charcoal like you would in a restaurant, you'll want to follow the dhungar method. Using tongs, place a small piece of charcoal on a grill pan like shown in the photo below. Burn the charcoal until it becomes red hot. Please be sure to use natural charcoal for this method, avoiding anything that has a flame accelerant added. Note that this is an optional step - you can proceed directly to the tempering method.
  2. Place the red hot charcoal in a small steel bowl. You can also use a halved hollow onion instead of the bowl.
  3. Pour about ¼ teaspoon of oil or ghee on the charcoal. You will see fumes emanating as soon as you pour oil or ghee on the hot charcoal.
  4. Place this bowl on the dal.
  5. Cover the cooker or pot with a lid and let the dal get infused. Only smoke for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not keep for a long time, or you'll risk making the dal taste bitter. Remove the bowl carefully with the help of tongs and cover the cooker with a lid. Set aside.
Make the tempering (tadka or chaunk)
  1. Next, heat oil or ghee (clarified butter) in a small pan over low or medium-low heat.
  2. First, add the cumin seeds and crackle them. The cumin should get fried and not be raw, but be careful not burn them.
  3. Next add the dry red chilies, asafoetida, and finely chopped garlic. Let the garlic brown lightly and the red chilies change color. Do not burn the garlic.
  4. Lastly, add the crushed kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and kashmiri red chili powder or cayenne pepper. Mix well and turn off the stove.
Make Dal Tadka
  1. Pour entire tempering mixture along with the oil or ghee into the prepared dal.
  2. You can either mix the dal with tempering, or serve the dal tadka with the tempering on top of it.
  3. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serving Suggestions
  1. Serve Dal Tadka hot with steamed basmati rice or jeera rice (cumin rice).
  2. You can also enjoy the dal with roti or paratha.

Notes

  • If unavailable, omit asafoetida and kasuri methi without significantly changing flavor.
  • Dal soaking for 30-40 minutes before cooking shortens cooking time.
  • Tomatoes add tang but can be replaced with lemon juice if needed.
  • Either oil or ghee can be used for tempering; ghee adds more aroma.
  • The dhungar (charcoal) smoking method is optional; smoked paprika can be used as an alternative.
  • Consistency of dal should be medium, not too thick or thin, adjusting water accordingly.
  • Cooking times vary; check for softness and creaminess before proceeding with tadka.

Nutrition Information

Calories 213kcal (11%) Carbohydrates 16g (5%) Protein 4g (8%) Fat 15g (23%) Saturated Fat 4g (20%) Cholesterol 15mg (5%) Sodium 60mg (3%) Potassium 303mg (6%) Fiber 4g (16%) Sugar 2g (4%) Vitamin A 630IU (13%) Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 1mg Vitamin B6 1mg Vitamin B12 1µg (42%) Vitamin C 9mg (10%) Vitamin D 1µg (5%) Vitamin E 5mg Vitamin K 5µg Calcium 50mg (5%) Vitamin B9 (Folate) 56µg Iron 1mg (6%) Magnesium 29mg (7%) Phosphorus 77mg Zinc 1mg

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 213

% Daily Value*

Calories 213kcal 11%
Carbohydrates 16g 5%
Protein 4g 8%
Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 15mg 5%
Sodium 60mg 3%
Potassium 303mg 6%
Fiber 4g 16%
Sugar 2g 4%
Vitamin A 630IU 13%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 1mg
Vitamin B6 1mg
Vitamin B12 1µg 42%
Vitamin C 9mg 10%
Vitamin D 1µg 5%
Vitamin E 5mg
Vitamin K 5µg
Calcium 50mg 5%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 56µg
Iron 1mg 6%
Magnesium 29mg 7%
Phosphorus 77mg
Zinc 1mg

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.