North Indian

Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal)

Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal) 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.

40 min Medium High fiber Heart healthy Diabetic friendly Vegetarian Halal Gluten free Pescatarian

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups toor dal (split pigeon peas)
  • 4 cups water
  • 3/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tomato
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 dried red chilies
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 3 tbsp ghee
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp salt

How to cook it

  1. Rinse the toor dal and pressure cook it with the turmeric, salt, and water until soft and creamy, about 4 whistles.
  2. Lightly mash the cooked dal and keep it warm, adding a splash of water if it is too thick.
  3. Heat the ghee in a small pan and let the cumin seeds and dried red chilies sizzle, then add the garlic, ginger, and green chilies.
  4. Add the onion and cook until golden, then stir in the tomato, red chili powder, and garam masala and cook until the tomato breaks down.
  5. Pour this tempering over the dal, simmer together for 5 minutes, then finish with cilantro and serve.

Serve it with

A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

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. Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal) carries dairy. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal)
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
Pulses, Vegetables, and Dairy
How this was set
Hand audited

When to cook it

Dhaba Dal Tadka (Ghee Tempered Toor Dal) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.

Watch someone make it

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More to cook

From the same kitchens

More cooking from 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.

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