Yellow Dal Tadka In The Restaurant Style

Dal Tadka is a warm, flavourful, and soothing Indian lentil meal. This flavourful and delectable homemade dal tadka beats any Indian restaurant! With just one bite, you'll agree that cooking amazing restaurant-quality meals at home is easier than you think. This quick lentil yellow dal tadka, made using cabinet goods, is one of the finest you can make for a simple vegetarian Indian meal.

For vegetarians, Indian dal is an important source of protein and nutrition. It is also a supplemental source for non-vegetarians; in any case, lentils are eaten practically every meal in Indian families. To keep things interesting, we prepare lentils in various ways, one of which is this restaurant-style dal tadka.

Dal tadka is a favourite Indian meal in which spicy lentils are cooked and finished with ghee or oil-based tempering. 'Dal' means 'lentils,' and 'tadka' means 'tempering' in Hindi. This dish, also known as Tarka dal, is quite popular in Indian restaurants. This is a most desired for many Indian food admirers, served with butter naan, tandoori roti, steaming basmati or jeera rice.

Yellow Lentils of any type are referred to as dal tadka. It can be entire or split and can have or not have the skin. Dal tadka may be made using a variety of lentils, but the most popular variation utilises toor dal, commonly known as arhar dal or split pigeon peas in English.

It's also sometimes combined with masoor dal (red lentils) or even moong dal (skinned spilt mung lentils). This type of lentil meal is made practically anywhere in India, although with different flavours and variants. As a result, each household may have its own method of tempering and cooking the dal.

My Yellow Dal Tadka – Restaurant Style

My recipe will show you how to prepare a unique dal tadka with layers of flavour. Combining different types of lentils not only improves the taste, flavour, and nutrition of a meal like Yellow Dal Tadka, but it also adds a magical touch to it.

For taste, texture, and flavour, we'll use three distinct varieties of lentils in this dish. While toor dal serves as the foundation, moong dal adds a thicker texture and chana dal adds a distinct taste.

Step by step instructions to make Yellow Dal Tadka:

  1. In a pressure cooker, place 1 cup of dal. 2 tablespoons chana dal, 3-4 cup toor dal, 1-4 cup moong dal
  2. Rinse them well at least four times.
  3. Fill the cooker with 3 cups of new water and seal the lid. On a medium heat, cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes if using an instant pot.
  4. To make the masala, heat 12 to 2 tablespoons oil in a medium pan, then add 12 teaspoon cumin seeds and cook softly until they begin to sputter.
  5. Add 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic and ginger to the mixture (equal quantities). Lightly fry them till fragrant.
  6. Combine ½ cup finely chopped onions and 1 green chilli in a mixing bowl. Fry until the onions are transparent, stirring occasionally.
  7. Reduce the heat. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala. Stir through well.
  8. Season with salt and add ¾ deseeded and finely diced tomatoes.
  9. Sauté till tomatoes are softened.
  10. In the meantime, open the pressure cooker. Dal must be soft and mushy when cooked. Lightly mash and stir.
  11. As desired, add additional hot boiling water to the dal to keep the consistency.
  12. Add the onion & tomato mixture to the cooked dal and mix.
  13. Simmer for 6 to 7 minutes and let the flavours blend in and bring it to a slight boil.
  14. Turn off the heat, and add coriander to garnish.

Serving Suggestions:

This Yellow dal Tadka pairs very well with any kind of Indian breads, jeera or ghee rice and steamed rice. Some people prefer to have a basic dal rice or dal roti meal without anything else perhaps accompaniments like papad, pickle, and sliced onions. It is a complete and nutritionally rich meal and a comfort meal for many and a staple in Indian Diets.

Have a niceeee meal readers, see you next time

Share this post