This tasty yet easy-to-cook Daal dish is hugely popular in India. There are as many versions of it as there are cooks in India! One of my personal favorite meals is Tadka Daal served with plain boiled rice. If you prefer, you can add pretty much any side dish you like to enhance this already perfect combination.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Toor or Tuvar Daal (look below for picture and description)
- 1 large tomato cut into cubes
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp vegetable/ sunflower/ canola cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tbsps melted ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tsp Paanch Phoran (see recipe below)
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 slit green chillies (optional but preferred)
- 1/2 tsp asafetida powder
Preparation:
- Thoroughly wash the Toor/ Tuvar Daal and put into a pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water to it. Now add the chopped tomato, ginger, garlic pastes, salt to taste, 1 tbsp of cooking oil and turmeric powder to it. Stir well.
- Cover the pressure cooker and set on the stove at a high flame. After the first 'whistle'/ pressure release, reduce the flame to simmer and cook for 2 more 'whistles'/ pressure releases. Turn off the fire and release the pressure from the cooker. Now open the pressure cooker and stir the boiled lentils well to blend into a smooth soup-like consistency. If it is too thick, add some warm water and stir till the consistency is right. Heat the Daal through again. It shoudl be piping hot before you carry out the next step in the recipe.
- Heat the ghee on a medium flame, in a small pan till hot. Now add the Paanch Phoran and fry till spluttering stops. Add the curry leaves and green chillies and cook till spluttering stops. Turn off the fire and add the asafetida powder. Stir to mix well and add this tempering mix to the boiled lentil mixture. It will sizzle and might splutter a bit, so be careful when you do this. Stir well.
- Serve with plain boiled rice.
