Lasooni Dal Tadka (Dhaba Style)

I tried my hand at a dhaba style dal which is Lasooni Dal Tadka ( Lentils tempered with Indian spices) is . I personally believe that Dal is the soul of the Indian cuisine. An amazingly cooked dal will always be remembered and is one of the highlight of the dish.

The secret to a good dal is always the tempering or the tadka. I have used garlic and roasted it in ghee to give the dal a nice flavour from roasted garlic. Lasoon dal tadka served with Jeera Rice is the most convenient and wholesome food ever. For the below recipe, I have used only Tuvar Dal / Toor Dal / Split Pigeon Peas. You can even combine other dal / lentils to cook this amazing soulful dish.

Serving: 4 people

Difficulty Level: Medium

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 medium sized onions
• 7 – 8 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 1 tsp ginger (shredded)
• Salt to taste
• Red Chilly powder
• pinch turmeric
• 1/2 tbsp cumin – coriander powder
• 2 tsp kitchen king / garam masala
• ghee for tempering
• pinch asafoetida
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 whole kashmiri red chillies
• 2 cup toor dal/ split pigeon peas

Procedure:

1. Rinse the toor dal and soak it in water for at least half an hour before cooking.
2. Add salt to taste and pinch of turmeric powder to it and pressure cook for 6 – 7 whistles.
3. Take oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion. Additionally, put in ginger and garlic to it. Let it cook and soften for at least 5 minutes. You can add salt to fasten the process.
4. Once the onions turn translucent, add finely chopped tomatoes. Season the mixture with red chilly powder, turmeric powder, cumin – coriander powder and stir well. Mash the mixture with the back of a spatula to ensure the masala is well integrated with the vegetables.
5. Once the tomatoes are cooked and if the oil starts separating from the mixture, add the boiled toor dal to it. Mix well and let it simmer on low flame. Top it up with some kitchen king masala or garam masala.
6. For the tempering, heat some ghee in a wok, add asafoetida, cumin seeds, whole red chillies and garlic to it. Once the garlic starts getting a hint of brown colour, turn off the gas and immediately pour the tempering in the dal. Cover it with a lit to ensure that the flavour of the tempering is well infused in the dal.
7. Let it simmer for at least 7 – 8 minutes and serve hot with jeera rice.

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