Photo: Gannu03 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maharashtra · Dinner

Dal Tadka with Ghee Rice

Maharashtra's take on the classic dal tadka — toor dal cooked to silky smoothness and hit with a sizzling ghee tadka of cumin, garlic, red chilli and curry leaves. Served over ghee rice as a complete dinner. Simple, elemental, and exactly what the body needs after a long day.

🧺 Ingredients

• 1 cup (200 g) toor dal, washed and soaked 20 min
• 2 medium tomatoes (180 g), finely chopped
• 1 medium onion (80 g), finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 500 ml water
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp ghee (must be ghee — not oil for tadka)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 2 dry red chillies, broken in half
• 10 curry leaves
• ½ tsp asafoetida (hing)
• ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (for colour)

👩‍🍳 How to make Dal Tadka with Ghee Rice

1. Pressure cook dal (Heat: high → low): Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Fry chopped onion 5 minutes golden. Add ginger-garlic paste — fry 1 minute. Add tomatoes — cook 3 minutes. Add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder — stir 20 seconds. Add soaked dal and 500 ml water. Salt. Pressure cook on high to first whistle, then 10 minutes low. Natural release.
2. Whisk and adjust consistency (No heat): Whisk dal smooth. Taste and adjust salt. If too thick, add water and stir — dal should be pourable but not watery. Simmer on medium 3–4 minutes if adjustments needed.
3. Make the tadka (Heat: medium-high): In a separate small tadka pan, heat ghee on medium-high until shimmering. Add cumin seeds — sizzle 10 seconds until fragrant. Add sliced garlic — fry 30–40 seconds until just golden (watch carefully — it burns quickly). Add hing — 3 seconds. Add curry leaves — crackle 5 seconds. Add broken dry red chillies — 5 seconds. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder — turn off heat immediately (chilli powder burns in seconds). The tadka should be sizzling and aromatic.
4. Pour tadka: Immediately pour the entire sizzling tadka over the hot dal — it will bubble and sputter dramatically. Stir gently to distribute.
5. Make ghee rice: Cook rice with cumin seeds in ghee as per recipe 14.
6. Serve: Steamed ghee rice in a bowl. Dal tadka poured over and around. Garnish with coriander. Serve with raw onion, papad and lime.

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