Name: Tadkā Dāl
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons neutral oil, such as sunflower or avocado; ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste; Pinch of asafetida, optional; ½ teaspoon ground red chili (paprika, for mild, or Indian red chili, for spicy), or to taste; 1 plum tomato, diced (about ½ cup/110 g); 2 teaspoons neutral oil; 2 teaspoons minced ginger; 4 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon), optional; 1 cup (about 200 g) split moong dāl or split masoor dāl, or a combination; 1 teaspoon garam masālā; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 green chili, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; ½ yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup/150 g), optional; 2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
55 min

Appears in

Plant-Based India

By Sheil Shukla

Published 2022

About

Tadkā is an onomatopoeia, imitating the sizzle of tempered spices poured over piping hot cooked dāl. This is the basic recipe from which other types of dāl can be made. I call for split moong (split yellow mung beans) and/or masoor (split red lentils) since they are quick-cooking and readily available. Other types of dāl, such as chanā (split Indian chickpeas or Bengal gram) or tuver/toor dāl (split pigeon peas) may also be used, but they will take longer to cook. This dāl is delicious with