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Tarka Dhal

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Tarka Dhal is a Indian soup, but so much more & really simple to make. So much flavour for so little ingredients! My first word of caution with this though is — never ever add salt to cook any kinda lentils— it will never work, add it once they are completely cooked through! I like to eat Tarka Dhal for breakfast with a Naan bread, but on this occasion I'm making it to go with a chicken thigh dish called "Spicy Masala" with the Tarka Dhal served as a side, so, I'm actually making it day ahead & will reheat tomorrow and serve alongside the main dish — Less work for me tomorrow ;->

Oh! And bye the way, this is a wholesome budget friendly, protein rich dish with a high nutrition content similar to meat. And you just can't go wrong with this when the pennies are tight :¬)

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide on how to make Tarka Dhal with pictures as a visual guide.

tarka dhal finished

ingredients

Here's what you need :¬)

for the dhal

  • 115g dried split red lentils (masoor dhal)
  • 50g dried split yellow lentils (moong dhal)
  • 600ml water
  • 2 tsp garlic paste
  • 2 tsp ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 fresh green chillies sliced into discs
  • 1 & 1/2 tsp salt *

*Don't put the salt into the lentils until they are completely cooked, or they will remain forever—hard as bullets!

for the tarka

  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 dried red chillies
  • 1/2 tsp each of mustard & onion seeds (nigella)
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 1 - 2 green chillies (optional) sliced into discs
  • 2 small tomatoes sliced

to garnish

  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
  • 2 fresh green chillies sliced
  • 1 Tbsp fresh mint (optional)

method

This one's dead easy!

Firstly, you need to wash your weighed lentils and make sure that there are no small stones lurking amongst — we don't wanna be cracking a tooth now do we!?

So, put your lentils into a pan and give 'em a rinse and an eyeball to check for stones. Once we've done that we're ready to roll, there'll be plenty of time to prep' the other few ingredients while the lentils are cooking.

Click / Tap to watch the Instagram reel
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So, without further ado, here we go :-)

Here's my ingredients layed out as a guide:

ingredients
ingredients

Dhal method

First job get the lentils onto cook:

  1. Put your washed lentils into a pan:
    • 115g dried split red lentils (masoor dhal)
    • 50g dried split yellow lentils (moong dhal)
    & add:
    • 600ml water
    • 2 tsp garlic paste
    • 2 tsp ginger paste
    • ½ tsp turmeric
    • 2 fresh green chillies sliced into discs
  2. Set the salt aside
    • 1½ tsp salt *
  3. Cover & bring to the boil
  4. Simmer for 30 minutes
  5. Test the lentils are soft (virtually dissolved) *
  1. Add the salt, stir well & check the seasoning
    • 1½ tsp salt *

*Once you're happy that they are soft — they should be a bit like creamy soup:

  1. Get a potato masher and bash them up a bit
dhal cooked
dhal cooked in pan
  1. Tip the tarka over the dhal
  2. Cover and allow flavours to infuse for 2 mins

tarka method

So, while your dahl is cooking, you can slice your onions and tomatoes and get the other ingredients ready for when the lentils have finished cooking.

We've 30 minutes, so we're gonna cruise at a leisurely pace, perhaps with a glass of something to pass the time ;->

  1. Heat a heavy based pan to a medium heat
  2. Add the 2 Tbsp vegetable oil & allow to it to get hot
  3. Add the seeds
    • ½ tsp of mustard seeds
    • ½ onion seeds (nigella)
    Wait for them to start popping / fizzling
  4. Add:
    • 4 (or more) dried red chillies
    & allow them to blacken a little.
chillies & seeds cooking
seeds and chilli cooking in oil
  1. Add
    • 1 large onion sliced
add the onions
onions softening
  1. Add:
    • 1 - 2 green chillies (optional) sliced into discs
add the green chillies
green chillies added
  1. Stir fry so the onions don't brown too much
onions & chillies softened
onions and chillies softened
  1. Add:
    • 2 small tomatoes sliced
add tomatoes
tomatoes added
  1. Cook until they are soft & start to break down
  2. Add:
    • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
    3. NB: frozen coriander is fine if that's what you have.
add coriander
coriander added
  1. Stir in and allow it wilt
tarka ready for the dhal
tarka cooked
  1. Pour your Tarka over the top of your Dhal
  2. Cover & let the Tarka infuse for a minute or two
  3. Finally, garnish & serve
tarka dhal ready to serve
tarka dhal ready to serve

serving suggestion:

Serve the Tarka Dhal on its own, as a starter / light meal, or, you could make some chapatis to go with it if you like. Alternatively, I often serve my Tarka Dhal with toasted shop-bought naan as a quick and easy option :¬P

However! On this occasion, I did say that I was going to serve it up as a side with a Spicy Masala Chicken made with chicken thighs, so here's a picture to get you going:-

spicy masala chicken & tarka dhal
spicy chicken masala tarka dhal and naan

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