Dhaba style dal tadka or restaurant style dal tadka is so delicious and easy to make at home.
Dal tadka is Indian style dal fry or dal curry recipe made of lentils, onions and spices which is served with rice or chapathi or poori.
You can make dhaba style or restaurant style dal tadka at home easily if you have few ingredients at home and if you follow the instructions to make the restaurant style dal tadka.
The delicious dal tadka or Indian style dal curry looks like a very simple easy to prepare dish, but often it is difficult to achieve the restaurant style taste when we make it at home.
If you take care of few things while you prepare the dal tadka at home, you can also easily prepare the restaurant style rich and delicious dal tadka at home.
This dal tadak recipe uses toor dal or split yellow pigeon peas for preparing the dal curry along with spices, onions and tomatoes.
As with any recipe, variations are possible with dal tadka recipe too, and I made this dish little spicy and also used garam masala to add more flavor.
If you want to make a more simple but delicious one you can reduce the amount of garam masala used and it is still very delicious.
Make sure to use the onions, fresh garlic and whole spices to add the exotic flavor to this simple dish which will give you the dhaba (restaurant style) flavor.
The most important thing that you need to take care while you prepare the dal tadka for the best restaurant style flavor is that you need to lightly saute or fry the cooked dal along with the sauteed onions and garlic.
If the cooked and mashed dal is not light fried in oil, it may have a raw flavor which is so off putting.
So make sure to lightly fry the prepared dal, and for the best flavor always use ghee! And also do not skip the onions and garlic for this dal tadka recipe as they add much flavor to this simple dish.
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You may also add more tomato or more spice powders if you wish, but the golden yellow color of the dal will be lost if you add more tomatoes or more masala powders.
So here is how you can prepare the easy and delicious Indian style dal fry following this easy restaurant style Indian dal tadka recipe.
Dhaba Style Dal Tadka Recipe, How To Make Perfect Restaurant Style Indian Dal Tadka At Home Using Toor Dal
Ingredients
To cook the dal
- 1 cup toor dal or yellow split pigeon peas
- 3 cups water to cook the dal
- salt as needed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder optional
- 1 teaspoon oil
To prepare the base for the gravy
- 1 large onions
- 1 medium sized tomato
- 2 tablespoons oil may use ghee instead
- 1 inch ginger piece
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 small cinnamon sticks
- 3 cloves
- 2 cups water
- salt as needed
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream optional
- 1 tablespoon extra ghee or butter optional
Spice Powders
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ¼ teaspoon kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves dried)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
For seasoning
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 red chilies dried broken
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 string curry leaves (make sure there is no water in leaves)
For garnishing
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves (add little more if you like)
Instructions
Cooking the dal
- Wash the dal and transfer it to a pressure cooker.
- Add enough salt, garlic powder, oil, turmeric powder and water also to the pressure cooker, mix everything well.
- Close the pressure cooker with lid and safety valve in place and cook for 1 to 2 whistles or about 8 to 10 minutes in medium heat. Wait for the pressure cooker to cool down which will take a few minutes.
- Once the pressure cooker is cooled, open the cooker and see if the dal is cooked well. Using a ladle or spoon, lightly mash the dal. Keep the cooked dal aside.
Preparing the dish
- Wash and peel the onion, chop the onion finely. Keep the chopped onions aside (you can do this step and the below step while the dal is getting cooked in the pressure cooker to save time).
- Peel the garlic cloves and peel the ginger, and crush the fresh ginger and garlic, keep them aside. I used a garlic press to crush the garlic and ginger easily (you may also use ginger garlic paste instead of using ginger and garlic separately. Using garlic powder and ginger powder is also an easy option).
- Now heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
- When the cumin seeds is lightly fried, add the cinnamon sticks and cloves, lightly fry everything.
- Add the chopped onions, enough salt and also the crushed ginger and garlic, mix well and saute until the onions are lightly fried which will take about 10 to 12 minutes of time.
- Meanwhile chop the tomato finely and keep this also aside.
- Once the onions are lightly fried and started to brown, add green chilies and chopped tomatoes also, and stir fry the contents for another 3 to 4 minutes until the tomatoes are lightly stir fried.
- Add the cooked dal to the pan and mix everything well. Lightly fry the dal for another 3 to 4 minutes until the raw smell goes away. Keep stirring as needed to avoid the dal burning at the bottom of the pan and you can add the extra tablespoon of ghee or oil if using. Adding ghee or butter while frying the dal imparts much flavor to the dish. If you have time, you can keep the heat very low and fry the dal mixture for a longer time (stirring occasionally) which will add more flavor.
- Once the dal is lightly fried, add the spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds powder, kasoori methi and garam masala powder to the pan and mix everything well.
- Also add the water and mix everything well, once the mixture is about to boil, cover and cook in low heat for another 3 to 4 minutes.
- Open the pan, mix everything well and see if there is enough salt. If the salt is less, you may add as needed and mix well with the dish. Now we can prepare the seasoning for the dish (if you do not wish to prepare the seasoning separately, make sure to add the ghee and broken dried red chilies while you saute the onions). In case needed, you may add a little more water and mix well for more liquid like consistency.
- Finally add the heavy cream, mix in very well and keep the pan away from heat.
To prepare the seasoning for dal fry
- In a small pan, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds.
- When the mustard seeds splutter, add the broken dry red chilies and curry leaves (make sure there is no water content) and fry for a few seconds until they are lightly fried . Now the simple and easy seasoning is ready!
- Pour the prepared seasoning over the dal and gently mix in.
- For garnishing, add the chopped cilantro leaves, gently mix in and the delicious Indian style dal tadka is ready to be served! You can serve the dal tadaka hot with rice, chapathi or poori as you wish for lunch or dinner!
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