House recipe
🍲 Red lentil dal tadka
Creamy turmeric-simmered red lentils topped with a sizzling tempering of cumin, mustard seed, garlic and chilli.
Allergens. Contains: Mustard. May contain, depending on the brands you buy: Mustard, Celery.
This is based on the ingredient list only. Always check the labels of what you buy for “may contain” warnings.
Ingredients
- 250 g red lentils, rinsed
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cm fresh ginger, grated
- 1 fresh green chilli, slit lengthways
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil, divided
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ lemon, juiced
- a handful fresh coriander, chopped
- Salt, to taste
- 300 g basmati rice
Method
- Simmer the lentils with the turmeric and about 900 ml water for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam, until completely soft. Whisk to break them down.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the packet.
- In a frying pan, cook the onion in 1 tbsp oil for 8 minutes until golden, then add the ginger, green chilli and tomatoes and cook until jammy. Stir this into the lentils and season with salt.
- For the tadka, heat the remaining oil in a small pan until shimmering. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and, once they pop, the garlic. Fry until the garlic just turns golden, then take off the heat and stir in the chilli flakes.
- Pour the sizzling oil over the dal, add the garam masala and lemon juice, scatter with coriander and serve with the rice.