Red lentil dal tadka
To me, this Northern Indian dal is the king of curries: it is deceptively simple to make, yet it has such a complex and subtle flavour profile thanks to the addition of a spicy tempering at the end of cooking. In addition, it is very lean and is my go-to protein recovery dish after a strength training workout.
Recipe inspired from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen Cookbook.
Ingredients
- Dal
- 190g red lentils, thoroughly washed and drained
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp oil (9g)
- 80g chopped red onion
- 15g crushed garlic
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander
- 3/4 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- Tadka
- 1 tsp oil (5g)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- generous pinch of asafetida
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 8 curry leaves, preferably fresh
- 1 bay leaf
- fresh coriander for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Lentils
- Put red lentils and salt in a pot and just cover with water.
- Cook over medium heat until lentils are done. Turn off heat but do not drain the lentils, as we will use the cooking liquid to thicken the dal.
- Tadka
- Heat up 1 tsp oil in a pan over medium heat, and fry the spices from the tadka for a few minutes. Make sure you do not burn them!
- Reserve the tadka in a small bowl, making sure to scoop out all the spice-infused oil.
- Assembly
- In the same pan you just used to fry the tadka, heat up 2 tsp oil over medium heat, and fry the onion for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add crushed garlic and ginger paste, and keep frying until they no longer smell raw.
- Quickly add the spices, and mix well for ~30s.
- Add the cooked lentils and their cooking juices to the pan, and mix well.
- Pour the tadka on top of the dish, and briefly mix.
- Serve over any kind of rice. This dish is so flavorsome it often permeates my fridge for days! (in a good way)