March 18, 2016 Fast and Easy Dinners

Dhaba Style Dal Fry

Name: Dhaba Style Dal Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6 -serving
Cuisine: indian
Ingredients: 3/4 cup Tur (Arhar Dal /Pigeon peas spilt and skinned); 2 tablespoons Butter; 1 tablespoon (Oil); 2 cloves Garlic (smashed); 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Paste; 1/2 teaspoon Ginger Paste; 2 Chilies, Green (slit lengthwise); 1 Onion (finely chopped); 2 Tomatoes (finely chopped); 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder; 1 teaspoon Dhaniya (or Coriander Powder); 1/2 teaspoon Jeera (or Cumin Powder); 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric (Powder); 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala (Powder); 1 tablespoon Kasuri Methi; 1 Lemon; Salt to taste; Coriander (Chopped for topping)

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This Dhaba Style Dal Fry is an authentic Indian recipe! Its not a regular dal and has some really bold flavors from tempering that complement its thick consistency. Its really easy to make and can be put together on a weekday under 30 minutes!

For anyone who thinks Dal is boring, I’m going to change your mind today. Just before I started writing this post, I posted a picture of the Dal on Instagram (are we friends yet?) and oh man! I was expecting a lot of meh’s but all I got was yay’s for this Dhaba Style Dal Fry. So now I’m thinking there are other people who might actually like dal. Hallelujah.

Dal or Dhal or Indian Lentil Soup as some like to call it is the kind of thing you take so much for granted. In fact growing up I hated dal, mainly because of my dad. No he didn’t force feed us dal, but he only eats yellow dal – arhar or toor and so we didn’t have too much of an option. Faced with yellow dal day after day, you can imagine our plight – and we still give him a hard time for that 😛

But I guess once you start staying away from home, those very things end up becoming favorites. Everything except yellow dal. Am I confusing you, considering this post is about yellow dal?

So here’s the thing, I don’t like the regular pressure cooker with turmeric and salt only yellow dal. I want mine to have bold flavors, some tadka (tempering), some masala and only then I’m satisfied. Like this one.

My dhaba visits are always a battle. Between deciding whether to order dal fry, dal tadka or dal makhani. Dal fry wins about 40% times. Because dhaba style dal fry is smoky and spicy and indulgent and perfect with crisp tandoori rotis. All you need is some sliced onions on the side and a squirt of lime juice. And you are set.

The secret to this OMG dhaba dal fry is butter and kasuri methi. Trust me, those two just turn regular dal into awesome dal. The steps to making this recipe are pretty simple and totally doable on a weekday. So no extra prep needed, no last minute grocery trips because as long as you have the basic pantry staples, you should be good to go.

Plus it really doesn’t take too much time, and you will have finger licking goodness on the table in under half an hour. Dal Fry is usually a thick dal, unlike dal tadka but you are the boss of your dal so feel free to change things up slightly and just use this recipe as a guide.

Now if you are crazy about dhabas or dal fry or dal tadka or just food in general, give me a follow on Pinterest and Instagram where I share my daily food inspirations and foodie finds!