Dhaba Style Punjabi Dal Tadka

Dal Tadka is one of the most popular recipes served in Indian restaurants. A mix of moong dal and arhar dal, this is a flavourful lentil preparation from Punjab. Here is how to make it.

Dals are an essential part of Indian meals!

There is no Indian household, where Dal is not prepared during the week for almost 3 or 4 times or even more than that.

For weekdays, most of us prefer simple Dal recipes, but then there are special days when we want to make a Dal which is a little different from the everyday preparations. 

Such Dals are also very popular in North Indian restaurants such as Amritsari Dal, Dal Fry, Sultani Dal, or Dal Makhani.

Well, today we will see how to make Dal Tadka at home.

It’s actually very easy to make and can be prepared for your everyday meals too.  

Punjabi Dal Tadka is a little different from other Dals, as two different varieties of dals are used and the spices used are also a little different. 

This Dal is tempered with a delicious tadka, which does the real magic!

So, if you crave for that Restaurant Style Dal, you don’t have to wait until you go out, you can make it at the comfort of your home. 

Here are some more Dal recipes, that you can try – North Indian Style Toor Dal, Dal Palak, Sultani Dal, Raw Mango Dal, Rajasthani Panchmel Dal, Gujarati Dal, and Restaurant Style Dal Makhani.

About This Recipe

It is a staple dish that’s made out of lentils and served with hot rice.

It’s popular all over India and you’ll find that most restaurants have their own version of this dal. 

This delicious Dal is made with the combination of two Dals, Arhar Dal and Moong Dal. 

Sometimes people use pink masoor dal in place of moong dal.

Both the Dals are cooked and then tempered with onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies, tomatoes, turmeric powder and red chilli powder cooked in ghee. 

Once the Dal is mixed properly with the cooked onion tomato masala, it is tempered for the second time with cumin seeds, hing, garlic, dry red chillies in ghee.

The double tadka really makes it the best dal, you will ever have!

This Restaurant Style Dal Tadka has:

A homemade version which tastes just like the restaurant one with the use of fresh and high-quality ingredients.

A smoky flavor can be added with the use of coal.

Tastes amazing with Jeera Rice or Restaurant Style Indian Breads.

A simple dal bursting with amazing flavors and a delicious tadka. The tempering does add a lot of flavor and aroma to the dal. 

You just need 20-30 minutes to prepare this Dal.

Ingredients

You will need Arhar Dal and Yellow Moong Dal to make this simple yet delicious Dal.

Other than this, you will need everyday ingredients such as onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies, tomatoes, turmeric powder. red chilli powder, cumin seeds, hing, ghee and dry red chillies.

You will find all these ingredients in your pantry itself, so you don’t need to go to market to buy these ingredients. 

Make sure you make this Dal in only ghee and use a good quality hing as both these ingredients give this Dal a beautiful aroma along with the taste.

Process

To make this dal tadka, the Punjabi Dal mix of Dhuli Moong and Arhar Dal is to be cooked in a pressure cooker with salt and water until the dal cooks well.

Then some ghee is heated in a pan, to which chopped onions are added and fried till golden brown, to this some chopped ginger and garlic are added and fried for a minute.

As it is frying, we add in the chopped green chilli and tomatoes and cook it for a few minutes.

Finally, some turmeric powder and red chilli powder are added along with the cooked dal.

The water and salt are checked and the dal is brought to a boil, to top it off, some freshly squeezed lemon juice is added and mixed in.

A tempering or tadka is made, that’s added on top of the cooked dal. To make the tempering, some ghee is added in a pan along with cumin seeds and hing.

It’s left to crackle for a few seconds.

To this dry red chillies, garlic is added in until it turns brown.

Finally, this tempering is poured over the dal and it’s topped with chopped fresh coriander.

Serving Suggestions

The best part about this Punjabi Style Dal Tadka is that it’s a very versatile recipe and it goes with pretty much anything, it can be served with Jeera Rice, Plain Rice, and Roti.

It even tastes delicious with other flatbreads such as Tawa Paratha, Laccha Paratha, Naan, Khamiri Roti, Tandoori Roti, or Garlic Naan.

It’s also a popular curry that’s made for get-togethers or festive meals and there’s nothing like a good dal curry to devour a bowl of steamed rice.

Do try this recipe for your next meal and you won’t be disappointed.

Lentils have been a part of the staple Indian diet for the longest time as they are a great source of vegetarian protein and it also fills you up instantly.

If you’re looking at making a simple meal, give this Dal Tadka recipe a try.

Some of the other dal recipes I’ve posted are Bengali Style Cholar Dal, Lauki Chana Dal, Gujarati Dal Dhokli, No Onion No Garlic Makhani Dal and Malwa Dal.

Variations

Mostly Punjabi Dal Tadka is made using the combination of Moong Dal and Arhar Dal but some people also use Moong Dal and Masoor Dal to make it.

You can also use Chana Dal or only Moong Dal and only Masoor Dal to make Dal Tadka.

How to make it with Eggs?

A popular variation of this recipe is Egg Dal Tadka and is available in a lot of roadside Dhabas.

To make it, cook the dal as mentioned below in the recipe. Now start to make the tempering.

Once you have added all the below-mentioned ingredients, break an egg in the pan and scramble it.

Now pour this tempering with egg in the cooked dal.

Your Egg Dal Tadka is ready.

Pro Tips by Neha

Use a mix of either tuvar dal and moong dal or tuvar dal and dhuli masoor dal.

Always give two tadka to the dal to give it a dhaba like taste.

In the second tadka, make sure the ghee is very hot before adding the cumin seeds. It will make sure to release all their flavor in the ghee.

Use very good quality hing to give the tadka as it lends it a very delicious flavor.

You can also give a smoky taste to the dal by giving dhungar to it. For adding smoke flavor to dal, heat a piece of coal until red.

Keep a bowl in the center of the dal and keep this hot coal piece in the bowl. Drizzle a tsp of oil over the coal and immediately close the lid of the pan.

Let the smoke soak in the dal for 3-4 minutes. Then remove the bowl and give the dal a gentle mix.

How to get the smoky flavor in Dal?

The dal tadka that we taste at the dhabas or restaurants have a very distinct smoky flavor. That is because they are made on a wood fire.

To get a similar smoky flavor at home, you can dhungar your dal once it’s made.

To do it, heat a piece of coal until it is red hot. Keep a steel bowl in the center of the dal so that it is not immersed in the dal.

Keep the hot coal piece in the bowl. Drizzle 1 tsp ghee over the coal and immediately close the lid of the dal bowl.

Let the dal absorb the smoke for 10-15 minutes. Open the lid and discard the coal. Your smoky dal is ready.

Why is using a good quality hing important to make a good Dal?

To make a good Dal Tadka, using the best quality ingredients gives it a great transformation.

They give the dish the right balance of taste and flavor and hing is one such ingredient in Indian cooking which although used in very small quantity makes a big difference in taste.

After using many brands of hing in my cooking, I have now zeroed in on SSP Hing.

SSP Hing lends a great aroma and taste to any dish in which it is added and just by using a tiny bit of it, your dish can be taken to the next level.

SSP Hing has three types of variations. The regular powder, granules, and the newly introduced ultra powder.

I like the shaker bottles in which it comes. You don’t have to open the lid and take out the hing, just sprinkle some in the oil and you are good.

To make curries where the hing is added at the start of cooking, you can use the granules and for giving tadka, use the fine powder. If you are looking to buy it in India, you can buy the hing here.

They also have two different strengths of hing. If you love strong hing flavor as I do, use the powder and if you like very subtle flavor of hing, go for the ultra.

To know more about their products, you can visit their website www.sspandian.com .

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Gujarati Kadhi

Bhindi ka Salan

Step By Step Recipe

Wash the dal and add it in a pressure cooker.

Add 3 cups of water and salt to taste. Pressure cook until dal is nicely cooked.

Heat ghee in a pan.

Once the ghee is hot, add onion and fry until slightly browned.

Add ginger and garlic and fry for a minute.

Add green chilli and tomato and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Now add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.

Now add the cooked dal and adjust the amount of water and salt and bring the dal to a boil. Add lemon juice and mix well.

For tempering, heat ghee in a pan.

Once the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds and SSP hing. Let them crackle for a few seconds.

Add Dry red chillies and garlic and fry until garlic turns brown.

Pour the tempering over the dal.

*This post is in collaboration with SSP Hing.