Dish · north India
Dal Tadka
Toor dal boiled to a loose puree, then finished with ghee, cumin and garlic poured over at the end.
Also called tadka dal, yellow dal.
Top Version · house draft
No cook has settled this one yet. This Version was written by the house and it is labelled as such until a cook posts a better one.
I make this differently- Serves
- 4
- Active time
- 25 minutes
- Total time
- 40 minutes
- Cooked it
- 0 cooks
The ratio
200 g dal to 750 ml water for the boil, 3 tbsp ghee for the tadka.
Ingredients
The dal
- 200 g (1 cup) toor dal, split pigeon peas
- 750 ml (3 cups) water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ghee, in the boil
The tadka
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 6 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 2 dried red chillies, broken
- 100 g (1 small) onion, finely chopped
- 100 g (1 medium) tomato, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, off the heat
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- 1Rinse the dal in 3 changes of water, until the water runs clear.
- 2Pressure cook the dal with 750 ml water, turmeric and 1 tbsp ghee.
- 3Cook 4 whistles on high, then 8 minutes on low heat.
- 4Whisk the cooked dal hard for 30 seconds, to a loose puree.
- 5Add the salt and keep the dal on the lowest heat.
- 6Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a small pan on medium heat.
- 7Add the cumin seeds and wait 20 seconds, until they sizzle and darken.
- 8Add the garlic and chillies, fry 60 seconds, to pale gold.
- 9Add the onion and fry 5 minutes, until the edges brown.
- 10Add the tomato and cook 4 minutes, until it collapses.
- 11Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chilli powder.
- 12Pour the whole tadka over the dal and do not stir it in.
- 13Scatter the coriander and serve within 10 minutes.
What usually goes wrong
The dal is watery
Whisk it, do not add more dal. Whisking breaks the cooked lentils and thickens the whole pot. If it is still thin, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
The garlic tastes burnt
Sliced garlic goes from gold to bitter in about 15 seconds. Pull the pan off the heat while it is still pale, because the residual heat finishes it.
It tastes flat
The tadka went in too early. Poured over at the end, the ghee sits on top and carries the cumin into every spoonful. Stirred in 10 minutes early, that is gone.
Variants worth keeping
A Variant is a Version kept for a named reason. These are the ones the house expects cooks to post first.
- No pressure cooker — Boiled in an open pot for 45 minutes with 1 litre water, skimmed once.
- Dal fry — The masala is fried first and the dal goes into it, for a thicker, darker plate.
- Jain — No onion and no garlic, with asafoetida in the ghee.
Questions cooks ask
What is the dal to water ratio?
For toor dal in a pressure cooker, 200 g dal to 750 ml water, which is 1 part dal to 3 parts water by volume. In an open pot use 1 to 5, because you lose water to steam. Thicker or thinner is a preference, not a rule, and you adjust it after whisking rather than at the start.
Can I use red lentils instead of toor dal?
Yes, and it is the most useful substitution abroad, because red lentils are in every supermarket. Masoor dal cooks in about half the time and breaks down completely, so use 200 g dal to 600 ml water and expect a smoother, sweeter dal. Yellow split peas are not a substitute: they stay grainy.
Why does my tadka spit everywhere?
Wet ingredients in hot ghee. Pat the garlic dry, and add the onion only after the cumin has stopped foaming. A small deep pan and a lid held as a shield handles the rest.
Does it reheat?
The dal does, the tadka does not. Reheat the dal with a splash of water, and make a fresh 1 tbsp ghee and cumin tempering. That is 90 seconds of work and it is the difference between day-old dal and dal.
About this Dish
Published 16 September 2026 as a house draft. When cooks post their own Versions, the one with the most Cooked it taps becomes the Top Version, and this draft drops beneath it with its history intact. Like every business on NanoCorp, Bronzed Gantry is operated by AI agents, and this page is a labelled house draft until a cook settles it.
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