This dal tadka is just like you get at your favorite Indian restaurant but it’s made at home in under 30 minutes! This restaurant style (dhaba style) yellow dal tadka is incredibly delicious with a smokey flavor.
This Indian lentil curry preparation is one of the most popular dal recipes from Punjab. Other popular verities are dal fry and dal makhani.
Jump to:
About This Recipe
What Is Dal Tadka?
- dal=split lentils and tadka=tempering.
- To make this restaurant style yellow dal tadka, a single lentil (toor dal) or a mix of lentils (toor dal, masoor dal, yellow moong dal) is used.
- To make the tadka (tempering), spices/herbs are fried into the hot oil/ghee which releases its flavor and becomes aromatic. Then immediately this tempering is added to the simmering dal and the pan is covered right away to trap the flavors.
- Tadka is also known as chaunk in Hindi.
Smokey Flavor:
The dal tadka served in restaurants or dhaba has a unique smokey flavor. Let’s recreate that at home.
- Using dhungar method: A natural lump charcoal is used to smoke the dal (detail method is shown below).
- Using smoked paprika: This is the shortcut and eliminates the steps of smoking with charcoal. Recently I have been using smoked paprika whether it’s dal makhani or dhaba style urad dal.
❤️You’ll Love This Recipe Because
- Made with basic Indian ingredients.
- Gets ready in under 30 minutes.
- Tastes exactly the same as your favorite Indian restaurant’s dal tadka.
- It’s thick consistency with amazingly rich flavors with perfect smokey flavor.
🧾Ingredient Notes
Here is the pic of the ingredients required to make this delicious yellow dal tadka recipe.
- Lentil: Toor dal (aka tuvar dal or arhar dal) is used to make this dal tadka.
- Ghee: It imparts a really good flavor here, so I highly recommend using ghee in the tempering and not oil. If making it vegan then you should use oil.
- Ginger, Garlic: I recommend using fresh ones here and crush using mortar and pestle or a wet jar of a spice grinder. However, you can use ready ginger garlic paste. But fresh gives better flavor.
- Garlic (in tadka): I prefer to use whole, smashed garlic cloves in the tempering. It infused the oil with a beautiful, mild-medium garlic flavor. If you want intense garlicky flavor then add sliced or finely chopped garlic to the tempering.
👩🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
Wash toor dal under running cold water until water runs clear. Or rinse them in a bowl 2-3 times or until the water is not cloudy anymore.
1) Take toor dal, onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, green chili, salt, turmeric powder, and red chili powder in the liner of instant pot. The same can be done in a stovetop pressure cooker.
2) Add water and stir well.
3) If using instant pot and want to cook rice using PIP (pot in pot) method then place a rack in the center and place a container of rice with water and cover it.
4) Cover the instant pot with a lid, and keep the valve in a sealing position. Pressure cook (manual) for 5 minutes.
Stovetop pressure cooker, cook for 3-4 whistles on medium heat.
5) Let the pressure go down by itself and once the pin drops open the lid.
6) Stir it well and turn on the saute mode if you want piping hot dal tadka.
7) Add smoked paprika, garam masala and crushed kasoori methi. Stir well.
8) Add lemon juice.
9) Lastly, add chopped cilantro.
10) Mix well.
11) Heat a small tadka pan on medium heat. Once hot add ghee. Once the ghee is hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle a bit.
12) Add garlic cloves and dried red chilies and saute for a minute.
13) Add hing and red chili powder.
14) Immediately add the tempering to the dal. Cover it to trap the flavors and aroma.
Dhunagr Method:
Follow this method if not using smoked paprika.
Do this before adding tadka on top.
1) Heat the charcoal on the direct flame. Use the rack and tongs. Use the natural lump charcoal. Do not use instant light charcoal briquets as these have chemicals in them and we don’t want that smell of chemicals in the dal tadka.
2) Keep turning and heating till it gets smokey, hot and red. Place that hot charcoal in the small steel katori or bowl.
3) Place that katori in the center.
4) Add ¼ teaspoon of garlic paste on hot charcoal.
5) And drizzle ¼ teaspoon of ghee. As soon as the ghee heats, the smoke will come out.
6) Immediately cover with the lid to trap all the smoke. Keep it covered for 4-5 minutes and let the flavor get infused. You can increase the smoking time as per your liking. But start with 5 minutes and taste. Increase the smoking time up to 10 minutes if required more smokiness. Once done, remove the katori with the help of tongs.
💭Expert Tips
- If you don’t like the smoky flavor in this dal then skip dhungar method or smoked paprika.
- Always add these 3 spices (garam masala, kasoori methi and smoked paprika) after pressure cooking to retain their flavor and aroma.
- In tempering aka tadka, ghee is highly recommended. This gives a rich flavor to the dal tadka.
- To make it vegan, you can use oil, but flavors will be compromised.
- If making for guests then you can make the dal ahead of time minus tadka. At the time of serving make the tempering and serve. This way it tastes much better.
- Do not wait after adding red chili powder to the tadka. Add that immediately to the dal otherwise, chili powder will burn gives a burnt, bitter taste.
🍽 Serving Ideas
- Yellow dal tadka tastes best with plain rice or jeera rice. To complete the meal, have salad, papad and pickle on the side.
- It can be served with Indian breads like paratha, naan or tandoori roti. This makes a part of the whole meal (that contains sabzi, curry, rice, roti/paratha, salad, papad, pickle)
Check Out Other Dal Recipes
- Chana dal
- Moong dal
- Toor dal
- Urad dal (dhaba style)
- Moong dal chilka
- Tomato dal
Did you try this dal tadka recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.
📋 Recipe Card
Dal Tadka
Ingredients
- 1 cup Arhar dal (toor dal or split pigeon peas)
- ¾ cup Red onion finely chopped
- 1 Green chili finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste or freshly grated or crushed
- 1 teaspoon Garlic paste or freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)
- ½ teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon Lemon juice or Lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Cilantro or coriander leaves finely chopped
For Tempering:
- 2-3 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 3-4 Cloves Garlic smashed
- 3 Dried red chilies
- ½ teaspoon Hing (Asafoetida)
- ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
Instructions
- Wash toor dal under running cold water until water runs clear. Or rinse them in a bowl 2-3 times or until the water is not cloudy anymore.
- Take toor dal, onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, green chili, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and water in the liner of instant pot. The same can be done in a stovetop pressure cooker.
- Cover the instant pot with a lid, and keep the valve in a sealing position. Pressure cook (manual) for 5 minutes. Stovetop pressure cooker, cook for 3-4 whistles on medium heat.
- Let the pressure go down by itself and once the pin drops open the lid.
- Stir it well and turn on the saute mode if you want piping hot dal tadka.
- Add smoked paprika, garam masala, crushed kasoori methi, lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Mix well.
- Heat a small tadka pan on medium heat. Once hot add ghee. Once the ghee is hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle a bit.
- Add garlic cloves and dried red chilies and saute for a minute.
- Add hing and red chili powder. Immediately add the tempering to the dal. Cover it to trap the flavors and aroma.
Notes
- Do this before adding tadka on top. heat the charcoal on the direct flame. Use the rack and tongs. Use the natural lump charcoal. Do not use instant light charcoal briquets as these have chemicals in them and we don’t want that smell of chemicals in the dal tadka. Keep turning and heating till it gets smokey, hot and red.
- Place that hot charcoal in the small steel katori or bowl. Place that katori in the center.
- Add ¼ teaspoon of garlic paste on hot charcoal. And drizzle ¼ teaspoon of ghee. As soon as the ghee heats, the smoke will come out.
- Immediately cover with the lid to trap all the smoke. Keep it covered for 4-5 minutes and let the flavor get infused. You can increase the smoking time as per your liking. But start with 5 minutes and taste. Increase the smoking time up to 10 minutes if required more smokiness.
- Once done, remove the katori with the help of tongs.
- In tempering aka tadka, ghee is highly recommended. This gives a rich flavor to the dal tadka.
- Always add these 3 spices (garam masala, kasoori methi and smoked paprika) after pressure cooking to retain their flavor and aroma.
- To make it vegan, you can use oil, but flavors will be compromised.
- If making for guests then you can make the dal ahead of time minus tadka. At the time of serving make the tempering and serve. This way it tastes much better.
- Do not wait after adding red chili powder to the tadka. Add that immediately to the dal otherwise, chili powder will burn and gives a burnt, bitter taste.
Hally
I tried the recipe and it turned out so good. Thank you. But then I read the instant pot version and in it you have added kasoori methi , cilantro and lemon juice. Aren't these ingredients needed for the stovetop recipe?
Kanan Patel
The stovetop version I have shared 6 years ago and that time I have made it that way. It tastes just like Indian restaurant style.
While the instant pot recipe is quick version where onion tomatoes are just boiled with dal (not sautéed). Hence the dal will lack some depth of flavor so kasoori methi, lemon juice are added.
Cilantro can be added in both versions as a garnish.