Dal Tadka, made on the stovetop, brings that restaurant-quality feel right to your kitchen table. It's filled with protein and fiber from the yellow lentils, and perfectly seasoned throughout each step of cooking. This easy recipe makes a great comforting vegetarian dish that everyone will want more of!
Dal Tadka is a classic North Indian curry dish made with toor dal (also known as split pigeon peas) that are cooked until soft and creamy, then combined with stewed tomatoes and fragrant herbs and spices.
My recipe below sits in the middle of being fully authentic: using common elements and steps, with slight adjustments to keep the costs of ingredients down without skimping on flavor. Serve with garlic naan flatbread and fluffy basmati rice.
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $1.64
- Total Cost (about 4 servings): $6.56
- Those Other Guys: $16.99 per serving
Ingredients
- Toor Dal - Could also be labeled "split pigeon peas" on the packaging. This yellow lentil is incredibly nutritious with lots of plant-based protein and fiber. It cooks down to a creamy, slightly nutty pea that is the base of our Dal Tadka.
- Mustard and Cumin Seeds - Whole seeds that are a big part of the tadka, or "tempering" process (explained a little more below.) They add a warm, earthy flavor profile to the dish.
- Serrano Peppers and Dry Red Chilies - The Serranos are used to add as much a spice as you desire. Dried red chilies are typically mild, and inject a little flavor into the tadka right before serving.
- Aromatics - Ginger, garlic, onion, and cilantro all work together beautifully in this meal.
- Spice Mix - Some spices like tumeric and chili powder are used to season the dal, while others (like a quality smoked paprika) are bloomed in ghee at the very end of cooking.
- Ghee - Ghee is a clarified butter that is used in lots of Indian cooking. After processing, it raises the smoke point of regular butter; so ghee is great for high heat sautés!
Variations and Substitutions
Vegan Dal Tadka: Simply substitute the ghee for a vegetable oil with a high smoke point to easily make this meal completely vegan.
Different Dals: This can be made with a combination of different lentils - try masoor and/or chana dal!
Dunghar Method: Using this technique, you can infuse a beautiful smoky flavor into a dish using burnt charcoal. It's not necessary for a delicious dal tadka, but I included instructions for that below if you would like to try.
Extra Veggies: I love stirring in some chopped spinach for more nutrients.
What is Dal Tadka?
Dal is a word that refers to lentils, while Tadka is a cooking technique that translates to "tempering". By heating up ghee or oil and adding spices, you can infuse flavors into the oil. The flavored oil is then poured right on top of the completed dish before serving.
This adds depth, a burst of flavor, and a bright contrast of color to the dal - similar to a drizzle of olive oil over hummus or chili crisp over edamame.
How to Make Dal Tadka on the Stovetop
Step 1: To begin, rinse and soak your lentils for at least 45 minutes. Add the drained dal, 4 cups of water, and turmeric and salt to a large pot.
Once you bring it to a boil, low the heat to medium and cook uncovered until soft and tender. You may need to add more water, half a cup at a time, to the pot while it's finishing.
Step 2: Meanwhile, slightly caramelize diced red onion in ghee using a large skillet. Crush fresh garlic, ginger, and Serrano peppers using a mortar and pestle until a paste forms.
Cook the aromatics down together with the onions, followed by a little spice mix of salt, turmeric, and chili powder. Add in diced tomatoes and sauté until softened.
Step 3: Now, add the cooked lentils to the skillet and simmer on low heat until thickened to your preference.
If you like a more liquid curry, you can add a little water or broth to the pan at this step.
Step 4: Finally, let's create the tadka! Heat up a little ghee in a pan, then rehydrate 2 - 3 dried red chilies.
Pour in cumin and mustard seeds, stirring well. Quickly add in thinly sliced garlic and smoked paprika. After another 10 seconds of stirring, remove from heat and pour that right over the dal.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Grab fresh aromatics. Crushing fresh ginger, garlic and peppers adds lots more flavor to the recipe as opposed to using ginger and garlic paste.
- Use ghee. Ghee adds lots of flavor that you won't get using oils. This is key to restaurant-quality dal tadka.
- Watch your tadka! We're frying sensitive ingredients like garlic and whole spices in very high heat. You want to stir continuously, and remove the entire pan from heat right before they begin to burn.
Recipe FAQs
Different types of lentils cook at different times - toor dal, which this recipe uses, usually cooks in about 30 minutes.
However, the older your lentils are the longer they will take to cook. Soaking the dal beforehand helps cut down on final cooking time as well.
Yes, a pressure cooker will work for cooking the toor dal! If using a pressure cooker, you can go ahead and add your aromatics, spices, and diced tomatoes to the cooker as well.
This influx's that smoky flavor that is typical in most restaurant dal dishes. If you want to do this, follow these steps right before creating the tadka.
Using tongs, heat a piece of natural charcoal (nothing with a flame accelerant added) over direct heat until it's red hot. Transfer the hot charcoal with the tongs to a shallow steel bowl or hollowed-out piece of onion that has been placed inside the pot of dal.
Pour a little melted ghee on top of the charcoal to activate the smoke. Top the pot with a lid, and let sit for 3 - 5 minutes. Remove the bowl/onion with the charcoal and discard.
Traditional dal tadka can also include certain Indian spices like Kashmiri chili powder and asafoetida (hing). Many times, these are hard to find in regular grocery stores; and your dal will still taste amazing if you don't have them.
If you're not cooking with these often, you can save a little money and skip on purchasing them.
You can either pulse the veggies in a food processor, or just finely mince them instead.
Other Vegetarian Recipes You'll Crave!
If you tried this Easy Stovetop Dal Tadka Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Easy Stovetop Dal Tadka
Equipment
- Strainer
- Bowl (to soak lentils)
- Chef's Knife
- Mortar and Pestle (optional)
- Pot
- Wooden Spoon
- Large Skillet
- Small Skillet
Ingredients
Lentils
- 1 cup toor dal (also known as split yellow pigeon peas or lentils)
- 4 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cooking the Dal
- 3 cloves garlic (you need 5 cloves total for this recipe)
- 1 inch fresh ginger (or 2 tablespoons ginger paste)
- 2 count serrano peppers (or green chiles)
- ½ count red onion
- 3 tablespoons ghee (you need 4 tablespoons total for this recipe)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- cooked lentils (from above)
Tadka
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- 2 - 3 count dried red chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3 - 4 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro (for garnish)
For Serving
- cooked basmati rice
- garlic naan
Instructions
Preparation
- To begin, rinse the lentils and cold water until the water runs clear.Drain, then soak in cold water for at least 45 minutes.1 cup toor dal
- Pour in the soaked and drained lentils, 4 ½ cups of water, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon salt to a large pot.4 ½ cups water, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt
- Bring to a boil before lowing the heat to medium and cooking, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.The lentils should be soft and tender once you're done. If needed, add half cups of water at a time while they are boiling.
- Meanwhile, crush or finely mince 3 cloves of garlic, the ginger, and the Serrano peppers. Thinly slice the other 2 cloves of garlic for later. Set aside.Remove the pepper seeds before mincing for less heat.3 cloves garlic, 1 inch fresh ginger, 2 count serrano peppers
- Go ahead and dice your onion into small pieces.½ count red onion
Creating Dal
- Heat up 3 tablespoons of ghee on medium heat in a large skillet.3 tablespoons ghee
- Pour in the diced onion and cook until it slightly caramelizes. Be sure to stir occasionally.
- Next, add in the crushed garlic, ginger, and peppers from above. Cook for another few minutes until the pan is aromatic.
- Pour in a spice mixture of salt, turmeric, and chili powder. Sauté for 1 minute, until fragrant.1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Add your diced tomatoes into the skillet and cook until softened.1 cup diced tomatoes
- Finally, pour in the boiled dal. Let the pot simmer for another 4 - 5 minutes. Dal too thick for your preference? Add about a half cup of water to the skillet.cooked lentils
Tadka
- While the dal is setting up, go ahead and heat up the remaining 3 tablespoons of ghee in a small skillet.Add in the dried red chilies, allowing them to get rehydrated in the ghee.3 tablespoons ghee, 2 - 3 count dried red chilies
- Add 1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Be careful not to burn them.1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- Pour the remaining 2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic and smoked paprika right into the hot pan. Quickly stir and remove from heat after about 10 seconds to prevent burning.2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Drizzle the tadka over the dal before serving. It should sizzle and crackle on contact.
- Garnish each bowl with freshly chopped cilantro. Serve with basmati rice and/or fluffy garlic naan. Enjoy!3 - 4 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro, cooked basmati rice, garlic naan
Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think!