The BEST Tarka Dal Recipe

Tarka Dal

Tadka Dal is a North Indian dish and is a kind of thick, spicy soup usually served with rice or, my personal favourite, just warm chapatis or naan bread which you use to scoop it up!           
 A delicious warming, comfort food at any time!

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients

½ cup red split lentils

3 cups of water

½ level tsp salt

1 small onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp garam masala

1 small tomato

2 tsp chopped coriander

Method

1.  Rinse the lentils in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the water and salt and bring to the boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes skimming off any froth.  Now partly cover the pan.

2.  Cook for a further 40 minutes stirring now and again.  At the end of the cooking time you should have a pale yellow soup like mixture.

3.  During the final 10 minutes of cooking time fry the onion and garlic in the ghee or clarified butter until the onions are pale brown.  Add the tumeric and garam masala to the onions and cook for 30 seconds.

4.  Stir the onion mixture into the cooked lentils.  Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped tomato and chopped coriander.

Cooks Tips

v  For extra zing you can add a tablespoon of lemon juice.

v  If the tarka dal is looking very pale you can add more turmeric.