Dal Tadka
Yellow lentils, sizzling cumin-garlic tempering and ghee finish.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
The pour-the-tadka-into-the-dal moment is the whole show - listen for the sizzle, watch the bubbles. Pour it in last second so the aromatics stay loud, not dissolved.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 1 cupyellow lentils (toor dal)rinsed until water runs clear
- 1 mediumRoma tomatochopped
- ½ tspground turmeric
- 3 tbspghee
- 1 tspcumin seeds
- ½ tspmustard seeds
- 5garlic clovesthinly sliced
- 1 tbspfresh gingerminced
- 1 mediumshallotthinly sliced
- 1green chili (serrano)slit lengthwise
- ½ tspkashmiri chili powder
- ⅛ tspasafoetida (hing)
- ¼ cupfresh cilantrochopped
- ½lemonfor squeezing
- 1½ cupsbasmati ricerinsed
- 1¼ tspkosher salt
- 5¾ cupswater
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 320calories
- 14gprotein
- 48gcarbs
- 9gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Rinse toor dal in 3 changes of water until water runs clear.
- Chop tomato. Thinly slice shallot and garlic. Mince ginger. Slit green chili.
- Chop a small handful of cilantro.
- Rinse basmati.
Rice
Combine rice with water and salt. Bring to boil, cover, simmer low 15 min, off heat 10.
25 min · hands offCook dal
In a medium pot combine rinsed dal, chopped tomato, turmeric, water, and salt. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, partially cover, cook 25-30 min until lentils break down completely. Whisk briefly to smoosh into a creamy dal. Add water if too thick.
30 min · hands offTadka
When dal is nearly done: heat ghee in a small skillet over medium until shimmering. Add cumin and mustard seeds - let them pop 15 sec. Add sliced garlic, shallot, ginger, green chili. Fry 2-3 min until garlic is golden. Off heat, stir in kashmiri chili and asafoetida - it will sizzle violently.
4 min · hands onCombine
Pour the hot tadka - every drop of it - into the dal. Stir. Add a squeeze of lemon, scatter cilantro. Taste, adjust salt.
1 min · hands onServe
Ladle dal over rice or alongside it.
1 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Red lentils cook in 15 min instead of 25. Saves about 10 minutes.
Moong dal cooks in 20 min. Saves about 5 minutes.
Warm naan 1 min per side in dry skillet.
Warm roti briefly.
What keeps
Keeps 5 days. Re-temper a fresh tadka per meal - the sizzle of fresh-bloomed cumin and garlic in ghee is what makes dal taste alive.
Meet Maui,
the three-legged cat
who plans your dinner.
Think of her as a sous chef for your whole table. She plans dinner everyone will look forward to - built around your schedule and working in everyone's taste and dietary restrictions. That's the mental load of dinner, off your plate.
Join The WaitlistCurrently in closed beta on iPhone.
