How To Make Dal Fry – Dal Fry Recipe

Is there anyone who thinks Dal is boring? Well, this time I am going to change your mind. Simply before posting this recipe of Dal Fry, I thought of taking the views of my fellow followers on Instagram, and so uploaded the picture of Dal. Guess what! Instead of getting a lot of ‘meh’, I found many ‘yays’. This has indeed worked on my motivation and I finally realised that penning down this recipe was not a bad idea after all.

Vegetable recipes you may like: Dum Aloo Recipe, Mixed Vegetable, Paneer Butter Masala, Turai Chana Dal, Papad Mangodi Kadhi(Curry), etc

Dal Fry is a popular Indian recipe which is prepared in every Indian restaurant and Dhaba. It’s a total vegan Indian Recipe and masala tadka over it. You can serve fried Dal with any Indian bread or rice.

‘Dal’ or ‘Dhal’, whatever you are accustomed to, is usually taken for granted by many. In fact, I was never fond of it since my childhood. My mother used to prepare the regular ones in a pressure cooker, the light ones with turmeric and salt. While my grandmother loved it, my siblings and I loathed it.

However, I think once you leave your home and start staying away from your family, those homemade dishes turn out to be your favourite. To be honest, I really miss the love and care with which she used to prepare the yellow Dal but my penchant for those having bold flavours, the ones that have some tadka in them, still happen to be my choice.

Many times, I even find myself visiting the nearby dhabas to try out the Dal Fry dhaba style recipe. As a matter of fact, it’s a battle deciding between Punjabi Dal Fry recipe, Dal Makhani or Dal tadka. The prior always wins by a margin and I ultimately land up ordering smoky, indulgent and spicy Dal Fry with crisp Tandoori Rotis. Yum!

Want to know what’s the secret to my sumptuous restaurant style Dal Fry recipe? It’s none other than Kasoori Methi and butter that turns any regular Dal into a finger licking goodness served on the table. Trust me on this! So as long as you have the pantry staples, there’s really no need to visit the grocery shop for last minute shopping.

So here I am, bringing before you an easy Dal Fry recipe, the one that hardly takes any extra preparation and calls for you to spare a little time from your busy schedule. This weekend, let’s make it a special one. Invite your friends and family over for an awesome dinner at your place and don’t forget to serve them this amazing blend of Toovar and Chana Dal with lots of spices in it. All the best! J

How to make dal fry:

• Start by combining both the dal in a bowl and wash it properly in running water.

• Soak it for 15-20 minutes with enough water before cooking it. After 15 minutes drain all the water and transfer it in a pressure cooker to boil.

• Add salt, turmeric powder and 2cups of water (add water upto immersing level). Mix it well.

• Close the lid and cook dal over medium flame for 3-4 whistles. Turn off flame.
• Allow the steam to escape naturally before opening the lid.

Let’s prepare our seasoning.

• Heat ghee in a deep pan, when the ghee becomes hot add dry red chilly, bay leaf, cumin seeds and sauté on medium flame for few seconds till cumin seed becomes light brown.

• Add chopped ginger, garlic and green chilly and sauté it for another few seconds on medium flame.

• Add chopped onion and fry till they become transparent or light brown.

• To this add chopped tomatoes and cook till they become soft and mushy. To make the cooking fast add little salt while cooking the tomatoes.

• Add coriander powder, red chilly powder, garam masala, coriander leaves and cook for further few minutes.
• Lastly add crushed kasturi methi, asafetida and mix it well.

• Now add pressure cooked dal and mix it well. Dal fry is usually has medium to thick consistency so add more water as per requirement and bring it to the desired consistency. Cook dal on medium flame.

• Stir dal occasionally to prevent from sticking and bring it to boil.

• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice, jeera rice or chapatti.

Note:

• You can also mash the dal with laddle or the large spoon after cooking the dal in pressure cooker.