Recipes

Daal tarka: soft masoor daal with a zeera and garlic tarka

دال تڑکا

Last reviewed 15 November 20262 min read

Short answer

Boil 1 cup masoor daal with 3½ cups water and ½ tsp haldi for 20–25 minutes until soft, then add salt, red chilli, dhania and a chopped tomato and simmer 5 minutes. For the tarka, heat ghee, let 1 tsp zeera crackle, add sliced garlic and whole red chillies, and pour it over the daal straight away.

Makes:: Serves 4
Prep:: 10 min
Cook:: 30 min

Ingredients

1 cup masoor daal (or half masoor, half moong), washed
3½ cups water
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp red chilli powder and ½ tsp coriander powder
1 small tomato, chopped
Tarka: 3 tbsp ghee or oil, 1 tsp white cumin, 4 garlic cloves sliced, 2–3 whole dried red chillies
Fresh coriander to finish

Method

Wash the daal 2–3 times until the water runs almost clear.
Boil it with the water and turmeric, then simmer partly covered for 20–25 minutes until completely soft. Skim off any foam.
Add salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and the tomato. Whisk lightly to break the daal, and simmer 5 minutes. Add hot water if it is too thick.
For the tarka, heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the cumin and let it crackle for about 20 seconds.
Add the garlic and stir until light golden, then the whole red chillies for 5 seconds.
Pour the sizzling tarka over the daal at once, cover for a minute to trap the smell, then add fresh coriander. Serve with roti or rice.

The tarka is the flavour

Cumin seeds release their oil in hot ghee in seconds; garlic turns sweet when light golden and bitter when dark brown. Keep the heat medium and have the daal ready before you start.

Use whole white cumin for tarka, not powder: whole seeds crackle and flavour the ghee without burning.