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morsels45 said

Dal tadka

Lentils, and a spoonful of hot spiced oil poured over at the end.

Dal tadka
Photo: User:Justinc, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. A photo of the dish, not of these exact recipes.

That was somebody else’s answer. Yours takes about twenty seconds: a handful of either-ors, then one dish.

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How to make dal tadka

2 genuinely different takes — a classic, and a faster or lighter route. The same ones the app hands you once you have decided.

The everyday one

35 minutes · serves 4 · Easy

What you need

  • 200g toor or masoor dal
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 dried chillies
  • 1 tsp garam masala

What you do

  1. 1Rinse the dal until the water runs clear, then simmer with the turmeric and three times its volume of water for 25 minutes, until it collapses.
  2. 2Stir in the tomato and a good pinch of salt and cook another 5 minutes.
  3. 3Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the cumin, then the garlic and chillies, and watch it — the garlic should go gold, not brown.
  4. 4Pour the whole lot over the dal, stir once so it streaks, and finish with the garam masala.

Twenty minutes, one pan

20 minutes · serves 2 · Very easy

What you need

  • 150g red lentils
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • Chilli flakes
  • Lemon

What you do

  1. 1Simmer the lentils and turmeric in 600ml water for 15 minutes, stirring now and then.
  2. 2While they go, fry the cumin, garlic and chilli in the oil until fragrant.
  3. 3Tip the oil in, salt it properly, and squeeze over half a lemon.