Tadka Dal

The tadka is the dal

You can boil dal a hundred ways. The tadka is what makes it the dal you want at the end of the day. Mustard oil for the tadka — never refined sunflower, never ghee alone — because the oil carries the cumin and the chilli the way no other does.

Bring the oil to its first smoke before the cumin goes in. Kacchi ghani asks for this. The smoke takes the rawness off and brings out the round, nutty pungency the tadka needs.

Method

1. Rinse the toor and moong dals. Cook with turmeric, salt, and water in a heavy pan or pressure cooker until soft — about 25 minutes simmered, or 8 minutes under pressure.
2. When done, whisk the dal to break the lentils. Add a little hot water if it is too thick. Keep warm.
3. Heat the Bharat mustard oil in a small kadhai or tadka pan until it smokes. Lower the heat to medium.
4. Add the cumin seeds. Let them crackle for ten seconds.
5. Add the broken dried red chillies. They will darken in five seconds.
6. Add the sliced garlic. Stir until it is just turning gold at the edges.
7. Take off the heat. Add the hing and the kashmiri chilli powder. The oil will go a deep red.
8. Pour the tadka over the dal immediately. The hiss is the dish announcing itself.
9. Cover the pan for one minute to let the tadka infuse.

Notes from the kitchen

• Serve with steamed basmati rice or hot phulkas. A wedge of lime and a few coriander leaves finish it.
• The same tadka, doubled in oil, can be poured over a katori of yogurt with a pinch of cumin and salt — masala dahi.
• The dal keeps three days in the fridge. The tadka is best fresh; if reheating, do a smaller second tadka and pour over each bowl.