Dish · indian
Dal Tadka
Red lentils cooked down to a thin, pourable stew, finished with a hot tempering of cumin seed, garlic, and ghee poured over the top. An everyday dish eaten with rice or roti.
Where it comes from
The dish is eaten daily in households across North India, built around lentils as a cheap protein and a final tempering, or tadka, that Indian cooking uses across dozens of dishes to bloom spice in hot fat right before serving.
What cooks argue about
Cooks argue over whether the tempering should be poured over the finished dal, keeping its aroma sharp, or stirred in and simmered briefly, which mellows it but spreads the flavor more evenly.
Versions
Nobody has published a dal tadka here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
red lentils
cumin seeds
garlic
ghee