It’s a staple Indian lentil dish with simple vegan ingredients like yellow split pigeon peas and supporting whole spices. I agree to be sent email.
In fact, it’s one of the simplest dal tadka recipes you can find online and one that you should definitely prepare at home instead of paying a premium price at a restaurant. You would be surprised how delicious boiled yellow lentils tempered with cumin seeds, chilies can be! Don’t be thrown off if you are not familiar with the name Dal Tadka because the dish goes by other names too…Dal Fry or Daal Fry etc. If you like dal recipes, there are other popular ones that I have shared in the past that received great feedback. Be sure to check them out or download the recipe card here…Chana dal recipe, Palak dal, Green moong dal recipe. This Dal tadka recipe or any dal fry dishes I have shared in the past are great sources of proteins just based on the cooked dal. With the vegetables that we sometimes add for dal recipes, it becomes a balanced and complete meal. The other important part of the Indian dal recipe is the spices. Spices are a big part of Indian cuisine and Indian households and that’s what distinguishes one dish from another, one region’s cuisine from another’s, etc.
Ingredients note
How to make this
Start the instant pot in saute mode and drizzle a couple of teaspoons of oil. As the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds, and after a few seconds add chopped or minced garlic and ginger. Once the mustard seeds start to sizzle and garlic changes color, add onions, ginger, green chilies, and saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, spices(turmeric, coriander powder, chili powder) and stir them well. Follow it up with Toor dal (pigeon pea lentil) and three cups of water for cooking. Stir it all up. Press ‘Cancel’ on the Instant Pot and close the lid with a vent in the sealing position. Change the instant pot setting to ‘manual’ or ‘pressure cook’ mode at high pressure for 6 mins. When the instant pot beeps, wait for natural pressure release. When the lid pin drops down open the instant pot lid. Tadka method: Place a pan over medium flame and add a few teaspoons of oil. when oil heats up add cumin seeds and saute for 10 seconds. Then add Kasuri methi and hing (optional) and switch off the flame. Add this tadka to the dal. Garnish with cilantro, then serve with rice or roti.
Serving suggestion
Instant Pot dal tadka is one of our family favorite recipes. We have it often, at least once a week. It goes very well with phulka roti, sona masoori rice, and even brown rice. It may also be served with Indian flatbread like besan roti, naan, avocado paratha, and jeera rice.
Without garlic and onion
You can also make dal fry without onion and garlic. I have received some requests for that. Just skip those ingredients and follow the rest of the normal procedure that I have shared below. I have tried it successfully in the past. The sweet taste of caramelized onions will be missed, however, if you observing a fast or if you are allergic to onions or garlic, just skip them and follow the rest of the procedure.
Tips
Soak the toor dal (split pigeon peas) for at least 30 minutes.Traditionally for tadka, it is common to use ghee in the traditional method. However, using oil or vegan ghee for tadka is just fine. There is no noticeable difference.Garnish with cilantro leaves and lemon juice for additional flavor/taste.You may substitute moong dal and masoor dal(red lentils) for toor dal. It will have a slightly different taste and color though.The addition of vegan ghee at the end is optional but it enhances the taste.Dal can have thick or runny consistency, choose your favorite texture and add water accordingly.For an authentic taste, add curry leaves to tadka at the end.
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