Dal tadka
Stewed lentils finished with a tadka (spices fried in clarified butter), the everyday dish in millions of Indian homes. It’s eaten with rice or chapati.
Ingredients
- 250 g red or yellow lentils (toor dal)
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 onion and 2 tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves and 1 piece of ginger
- 1 green chilli
- 2 tablespoons of ghee or butter
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon of garam masala
- Fresh coriander, salt
How to make it at home
- Rinse the lentils and cook them with the turmeric in three times their volume of water until they break down (about 25 minutes).
- In another pan, fry the onion with the garlic, ginger and chilli. Add the tomato and cook until it breaks down.
- Mix the onion base into the lentils, add the garam masala and salt and cook for 5 minutes.
- For the tadka, heat the ghee until very hot and fry the cumin for a few seconds, until it sizzles.
- Pour the tadka over the dal and finish with coriander.
The trick: The tadka goes in at the end, still sizzling: that’s what perfumes the dish.