Jul 23, 2019, Updated Sep 02, 2022 I use a mix of toor (pigeon pea lentil) and masoor dal (red lentil) for the dal which is then tempered with onion, tomatoes and lot of ginger, garlic and cilantro! An Indian can never have enough of dals. And I hope you guys aren’t bored of my dal recipes because they will be here all the time. No escaping! This Dal Fry recipe is one of my absolute favorites. It’s packed with flavor, really easy to make and tastes so good with rice. It’s Sarvesh favorite. Just give him this dal and rice, and he will be the happiest. He can pretty much eat this combo everyday and not complain. One can make dal fry with toor dal only. However, for this dal fry recipe, I have used a mix of toor and masoor dal. Either way you make it, the end result will always be delicious!
This Dal Fry
✓ makes a comforting meal ✓ pairs well with boiled rice or quinoa ✓ vegan and nutritious ✓ makes a good protein packed meal for vegetarians/vegans To make the dal fry, I first boil the dal with turmeric and salt and then make the masala in a separate pan. Most of the flavor of this dal comes from using fresh onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. So you don’t need a ton of spices here. I have just used a bit of garam masala, chili powder and kasuri methi for that fragrance at the end. Trust me, you don’t want to go overboard with the spices here. The flavor of the dal really come through with using fresh ingredients. Sometimes, less is more! I have kept this recipe vegan but of course you can use ghee here. Ghee does give the dal a beautiful flavor and aroma. I ran out of ghee the day I made this dal so I have used oil to cook the masala.
How to Make Restaurant Style Dal Fry
To make a good dal fry, start with fresh ingredients. Like don’t use ginger-garlic paste, in stead crush some fresh ginger-garlic in mortar and pestle and use in the recipe. You will notice a difference! The second thing that you do to take your dal to that restaurant level is infuse some smokey flavor into it! This method of infusing the food the smokey flavor from the charcoal is called dhungar method. It is a pretty straight forward method where you heat a piece of charcoal until it’s really hot and then place it in a bowl and then place that bowl into your dish. Then pour, ghee or oil over the charcoal. As soon as you pour the oil, you will see fumes rise from the charcoal. Immediately cover the pan to trap that smokey flavor. The key though is to not smoke for a very long time. I usually don’t do it for than 5 to 7 minutes. The longer you will keep the lid on, the smokier the dal will get so don’t over do it. There is no right or wrong way of making this dal fry (or any dal for that matter) so you can definitely add ingredients as per your taste. I am just sharing a version I like. Hope you guys enjoy this one!
Method
1- Rinse the dal (I used mix of toor and masoor) and transfer to an instant pot or pressure cooker. Add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3 cups water. Stir. 2- Boil the dal using either- Instant Pot: cook on high pressure for 8 minutes with natural pressure release. Stove-top pressure cooker: cook for 4 to 5 whistles on high then lower the heat and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside. 3- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Then add dried red chili and hing and saute for few seconds. 4- Add onions (also add 1/4 teaspoon salt for the onions to cook faster) and cook for around 4 minutes until soft and light golden brown in color. 5- Add crushed garlic-ginger and sliced green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the raw smell goes away. 6- Add chopped tomatoes and stir. 7- Then add the garam masala, red chili powder and mix. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes until tomatoes are very soft and cooked and oil oozes from the side of the masala. 8- This step is important, don’t rush it. Stir in between and I also added around 2 tablespoon water so that the masala doesn’t burn. 9- Now add the boiled dal to the pan and mix. Add water to thin out the dal at this pont, I added 1 cup water here, you can add as per your taste. 10- Add kasuri methi, 11- Also add the chopped cilantro. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and mix. 12- Let the dal simmer for 3 to 4 minutes on low-medium heat. You can serve the dal at this step or do the extra step of giving it a smokey flavor (dhungar method). Dhungar Method (Optional) 13- For the dhungar method, place a steel bowl on top of the dal. Meanwhile heat a piece of charcoal over direct heat until it’s red hot. 14- Place hot charcoal in that steel bowl on top of trivet. Pour oil on top of charcoal. You will immediately see fumes coming out of charcoal. 15- Immediately close the pot with a lid. Let it remain like this for 5 to 10 minutes. 16- Then open the lid and remove the bowl from dal. The longer you keep the lid closed, the smokier dal will get, so don’t do more than 10 minutes. I did for 7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve dal fry with tandoori roti or rice!
More Popular Dal Recipes
Dal Makhani Dal Tadka Moong Dal Tadka If you’ve tried this Dal Fry Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
title: “Dal Fry " ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-14” author: “Charles Winnett”
Jul 23, 2019, Updated Sep 02, 2022 I use a mix of toor (pigeon pea lentil) and masoor dal (red lentil) for the dal which is then tempered with onion, tomatoes and lot of ginger, garlic and cilantro! An Indian can never have enough of dals. And I hope you guys aren’t bored of my dal recipes because they will be here all the time. No escaping! This Dal Fry recipe is one of my absolute favorites. It’s packed with flavor, really easy to make and tastes so good with rice. It’s Sarvesh favorite. Just give him this dal and rice, and he will be the happiest. He can pretty much eat this combo everyday and not complain. One can make dal fry with toor dal only. However, for this dal fry recipe, I have used a mix of toor and masoor dal. Either way you make it, the end result will always be delicious!
This Dal Fry
✓ makes a comforting meal ✓ pairs well with boiled rice or quinoa ✓ vegan and nutritious ✓ makes a good protein packed meal for vegetarians/vegans To make the dal fry, I first boil the dal with turmeric and salt and then make the masala in a separate pan. Most of the flavor of this dal comes from using fresh onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. So you don’t need a ton of spices here. I have just used a bit of garam masala, chili powder and kasuri methi for that fragrance at the end. Trust me, you don’t want to go overboard with the spices here. The flavor of the dal really come through with using fresh ingredients. Sometimes, less is more! I have kept this recipe vegan but of course you can use ghee here. Ghee does give the dal a beautiful flavor and aroma. I ran out of ghee the day I made this dal so I have used oil to cook the masala.
How to Make Restaurant Style Dal Fry
To make a good dal fry, start with fresh ingredients. Like don’t use ginger-garlic paste, in stead crush some fresh ginger-garlic in mortar and pestle and use in the recipe. You will notice a difference! The second thing that you do to take your dal to that restaurant level is infuse some smokey flavor into it! This method of infusing the food the smokey flavor from the charcoal is called dhungar method. It is a pretty straight forward method where you heat a piece of charcoal until it’s really hot and then place it in a bowl and then place that bowl into your dish. Then pour, ghee or oil over the charcoal. As soon as you pour the oil, you will see fumes rise from the charcoal. Immediately cover the pan to trap that smokey flavor. The key though is to not smoke for a very long time. I usually don’t do it for than 5 to 7 minutes. The longer you will keep the lid on, the smokier the dal will get so don’t over do it. There is no right or wrong way of making this dal fry (or any dal for that matter) so you can definitely add ingredients as per your taste. I am just sharing a version I like. Hope you guys enjoy this one!
Method
1- Rinse the dal (I used mix of toor and masoor) and transfer to an instant pot or pressure cooker. Add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3 cups water. Stir. 2- Boil the dal using either- Instant Pot: cook on high pressure for 8 minutes with natural pressure release. Stove-top pressure cooker: cook for 4 to 5 whistles on high then lower the heat and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside. 3- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Then add dried red chili and hing and saute for few seconds. 4- Add onions (also add 1/4 teaspoon salt for the onions to cook faster) and cook for around 4 minutes until soft and light golden brown in color. 5- Add crushed garlic-ginger and sliced green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the raw smell goes away. 6- Add chopped tomatoes and stir. 7- Then add the garam masala, red chili powder and mix. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes until tomatoes are very soft and cooked and oil oozes from the side of the masala. 8- This step is important, don’t rush it. Stir in between and I also added around 2 tablespoon water so that the masala doesn’t burn. 9- Now add the boiled dal to the pan and mix. Add water to thin out the dal at this pont, I added 1 cup water here, you can add as per your taste. 10- Add kasuri methi, 11- Also add the chopped cilantro. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and mix. 12- Let the dal simmer for 3 to 4 minutes on low-medium heat. You can serve the dal at this step or do the extra step of giving it a smokey flavor (dhungar method). Dhungar Method (Optional) 13- For the dhungar method, place a steel bowl on top of the dal. Meanwhile heat a piece of charcoal over direct heat until it’s red hot. 14- Place hot charcoal in that steel bowl on top of trivet. Pour oil on top of charcoal. You will immediately see fumes coming out of charcoal. 15- Immediately close the pot with a lid. Let it remain like this for 5 to 10 minutes. 16- Then open the lid and remove the bowl from dal. The longer you keep the lid closed, the smokier dal will get, so don’t do more than 10 minutes. I did for 7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve dal fry with tandoori roti or rice!
More Popular Dal Recipes
Dal Makhani Dal Tadka Moong Dal Tadka If you’ve tried this Dal Fry Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
