Recipe: Yummy Tarka Dal

Tarka Dal. Tarka dal is a great storecupboard standby dinner - it's also great for vegans, vegetarians and anyone on a budget. Cheap, delicious and healthy - tarka dal is the perfect comfort food supper. Toor dal (or arhar dal) was made in my house everyday.

Tarka or "tadka" is a way of cooking in which spiced butter is used to season a dish. This one is a classic, comforting lentil dish. It's fantastic with fresh coriander leaves and hot naan bread. You can cook Tarka Dal using 16 ingredients and 3 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Tarka Dal

1. It's 200 g of chana dal (dried yellow split peas) soaked for 20 mins.
2. You need 2 of tomatoes, chopped.
3. You need 1 of small onion, chopped.
4. It's 1 clove of garlic, peeled and left whole.
5. Prepare 2 of green chillies, sliced down the middle.
6. Prepare 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric.
7. You need 4 cm of piece fresh ginger, grated or thinly sliced.
8. It's Handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro).
9. Prepare to taste of Freshly ground salt and black pepper.
10. It's of To finish.
11. You need 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
12. It's 1 tsp of black mustard seeds.
13. It's 1 tsp of cumin seeds.
14. It's 2 of red Kashmiri chillies, chopped into quarters.
15. Prepare 2 of shallots, finely chopped.
16. It's 6 of curry leaves.

Dal Tadka Recipe tried and tested by many readers. This restaurant style dal tadka is a smooth and creamy dal tempered with spices and has a smoky charcoal flavor. Tarka daal, is one of our favourite soul-warming, stomach-filling, store-cupboard dinner wins. Daal - which is commonly spelt as dal, or dhal - is a word that both describes an ingredient AND a dish.

Tarka Dal instructions

1. Rinse the yellow split peas until the water runs clear. Place in a large pan and cover with 4cm water. Bring to the boil. Place the rest of the ingredients into the pan and simmer for 40 mins. Add more water if required to stop it drying out. When the peas are soft, mash with a potato masher but leave some texture to the dish..
2. Heat the oil in a pan over a low heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds, and fry for 20 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the shallots, chillies and curry leaves and fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shallots are golden brown..
3. Add to the top of the Dal before serving with a sprinkle of cilantro leaves..

Anjum Anand's easy tarka dhal recipe. The masur dal (aka. red lentils) is perhaps one of the most common pulses in an Indian kitchen and is a good source of protein, essential amino acids, potassium. Lentils can be a very important part of a vegetarian diet, so here is a quick guide to those lovely pulses and a basic recipe for a wicked tarka dhal. That wonderful, creamy, spiced lentil dish that goes beautifully with every Indian meal. Tarka dhal is super simple to make.