Dal Tadka with a Second Tadka (Dhaba Style)
Soft yellow dal, then a small pan of garlic and red chilli ghee tipped over it at the table. It hisses, the steam comes up, and everybody stops talking.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 cup (200 g) toor dal (or ¾ cup toor and ¼ cup masoor), washed
- 3 cups (720 ml) water, for the pressure cooker
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 3 tbsp Gir Cow's A2 Ghee (2 tbsp for the first tadka, 1 tbsp for the second)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 green chillies, slit
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1 tsp Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder (Kashmiri for colour, Desi Tikha for heat)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1½ tsp salt, or to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin, for the second tadka
- 2 dried red chillies, for the second tadka
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped, and a squeeze of lemon
Quantities are scaled up. Taste as you go and adjust the salt and spice.
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Eleven at night on a highway outside Karnal. The dal is already in the bowl when the boy comes out with a small steel pan held in a cloth. He tips it over the dal at the table and it goes off with a hiss, the garlic slices still moving in the ghee, red chilli oil spreading across the top in a ring. Somebody tears a roti before the sound has stopped. This is the whole trick of dhaba dal and it is not a secret at all: they simply do the tadka twice.
Gir Cow's A2 Ghee is what makes the second one worth doing. Ghee holds a higher heat than butter without burning, so the garlic slices fry to gold instead of stewing, and it carries the smell up and out rather than letting it sink into the dal. Ours is churned the bilona way from Gir cow milk. Off the flame, our Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder goes into that hot ghee and turns it deep red in seconds without a trace of burnt bitterness, because it is ground slowly on stone and keeps its colour.
The one thing that decides this dish is when the chilli powder goes in. Switch the flame off first, wait ten seconds, then stir it in. Drop chilli powder into ghee that is still on the fire and it blackens in under three seconds, and the whole pan turns bitter.
How to make it
- Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups water, the turmeric and ½ tsp salt for 4 to 5 whistles, till soft. Whisk it a few times with a ladle so it is creamy but some grains stay whole.
- First tadka: heat 2 tbsp ghee in a kadhai on medium. Add the cumin and let it sizzle. Add the onion and fry for 5 to 6 minutes till golden.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Fry for a minute till the raw smell goes.
- Add the tomato, ½ tsp red chilli powder, the coriander powder and the rest of the salt. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, till the tomato breaks down and ghee shows at the edges.
- Pour in the cooked dal. Add ½ to 1 cup hot water to get a pouring consistency. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes on low. Stir in the garam masala. Pour into a serving bowl.
- Second tadka: in a small pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee on medium till hot. Add the sliced garlic and fry till light golden, about a minute. Add the dried red chillies and sizzle for 10 seconds.
- Switch off the flame. Add the remaining ½ tsp red chilli powder and swirl the pan. Off the heat, the chilli turns the ghee red without burning.
- Pour the sizzling tadka over the dal at the table. Top with coriander and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with jeera rice or hot rotis.
Tips
- Make the dal base a day ahead. Reheat it with a splash of water and do only the second tadka fresh. Same dhaba taste, 5 minutes of work.
- For real dhaba smokiness, try the dhungar: set a small steel katori in the dal, place a piece of hot coal in it, drop a few drops of ghee on the coal, cover for 2 minutes, then remove.
- Dal thickens as it sits. Loosen with hot water when reheating, and taste for salt again.
- Add a handful of chopped spinach or methi leaves with the tomato for a green dal tadka.
