Dhaba Style Dal Fry is a delicious and flavorful lentil curry served at Punjabi Dhaba in India. The lentils are slow-cooked until they are creamy and mushy, topped with aromatic spices.
Here we will try to replicate the restaurant style dal fry at home with similar effects. This dal pairs perfectly well with ghee rice and tandoori naan.
How to make Dhaba Style Dal Fry
Restaurant or Dhaba style preparation of lentil curry with a combination of chana dal and toor dal with flavorful and spicy tadka served with steamed rice or roti.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Chana Dal
- ½ cup Toor Dal
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 2 green chilies chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon amchur powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoon cooking oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
For Tadka:
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 green chili chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced
- 1 dry red chili
Instructions
- Wash and soak chana dal and toor dal for 30 minutes. Boil in a pressure cooker with 5 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric, and salt.
- Heat 4 tbsp cooking oil and add cumin seeds. When it crackles, add chopped garlic and ginger.
- Then add chopped onion and fry till light brown followed by tomato and green chilies. Fry for 1 minute.
- Add all the spice powders – 1 tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp amchur powder, and 1/2 tsp garam masala powder. Fry the masala well by adding a few drops of water till the raw smell disappears. (fry on low flame for 5 minutes)
- Now add boil lentils and stir well. Season with salt and lemon juice. Cover and cook the dal for 10 minutes on low flame.
- Prepare tadka by heating 1 tbsp cooking oil and 1 tbsp butter in a small pan. To this add cumin seeds, chopped garlic, chopped green chili, and dry red chili. Saute for a few seconds and pour this over the dal.
- Serve hot with Roti or steamed rice.
Video
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