North Indian
Dal Tadka
Dal Tadka is North Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre, the protein alongside, and the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups split red lentils
- 4 cups water
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 onion
- 2 tomato
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 4 cups cooked basmati rice
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Rinse the lentils, then simmer them with the water and turmeric until soft and broken down, about 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Stir the chopped tomato, coriander, and salt into the lentils and cook 5 minutes more, adding water if it gets too thick.
- Heat the ghee in a small pan over medium heat and add the cumin seeds and dried chilies until they sizzle.
- Add the onion and garlic and fry until deep golden, about 6 minutes.
- Pour the sizzling tempering over the dal and stir it through.
- Finish with cilantro and serve over the basmati rice.
Serve it with
A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Dal Tadka, read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Dal Tadka carries dairy. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | Yes | Masala Omelette |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Grains, Pulses, and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Dal Tadka takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on lentil, tomato, and ghee.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from the United States, North India, South India, West India, East India, and Northeast India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.