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Tarka Dal

A light and healthy lentil curry, potentially somewhat drier than you're used to.

Ingredients

  • \(250 \! \text{ g}\) red lentils.
  • \(2 \! \text{ cm}^3\) ginger.
  • \(8\) fenugreek seeds.
  • \(0.5 \! \text{ tsp}\) salt.
  • \(1 \! \text{ tbsp}\) cooking oil.
  • \(1\) medium brown onion, diced finely.
  • \(1 \! \text{ tsp}\) yellow mustard seeds.
  • \(3\) cloves of garlic.
  • \(1 \! \text{ tbsp}\) tomato purée.
  • \(1 \! \text{ tbsp}\) lemon juice.

Tarka

I use a very basic tarka for this recipe, but you can find far more involved ones online if you fancy something more extravagant.

  • \(2 \! \text{ tbsp}\) ghee or high quality oil (avoid olive oil if you can, as good olive oils can go bitter when used at high heat).
  • \(2 \! \text{ tsp}\) deggi mirch (or substitute \(1 \! \text{ tsp}\) chilli powder and \(1 \! \text{ tsp}\) paprika).
  • \(1 \! \text{ tsp}\) garam masala.

Recipe

Lentils

  1. Bring lentils to the boil in \(500 \! \text{ ml}\) of water.
  2. Skim the scum that will form off from the top of lentils.
  3. Add the fenugreek seeds, ginger, and salt.
  4. Simmer for \(30 \! \text{ minutes}\).

Onions

This should be done when the lentils have about \(10 \! \text{ minutes}\) left.

  1. Heat the oil (\(1 \! \text{ tbsp}\)) on a high heat.
  2. Bring the heat down to medium-high and fry the onions for \(3 \! \text{ minutes}\).
  3. Add the mustard seeds and fry until they begin to pop.
  4. Add the garlic and fry for \(1 \! \text{ minute}\).

Bring It Together

  1. Add the onions to the lentils.
  2. Add the tomato puree, and lemon juice.
  3. Simmer for \(30 \! \text{ minutes}\), topping up with small amounts of water (literally just \(1 \! \text{ tbsp}\) at a time, otherwise you run the risk of making it too soupy) if it starts to get too dry.

Tarka

  1. Heat the oil (\(2 \! \text{ tbsp}\)) on a high heat.
  2. Add the deggi mirch and garam masala and fry for \(20 \! \text{ seconds}\).

Finally, pour the tarka over the dal and serve!