Name: Toor dal with tomatoes and ginger
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: ½ cup toor dal (yellow lentils); ½ cup chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh); ½ inch fresh ginger root (grated); 1 tbsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp hing (asafetida); 2 tbsp ghee; 1 tsp turmeric; 2-3 tbsp coriander leaves (chopped); 2 fresh chilis (optional); 1 dried red chilli; 2 cups water; salt to taste

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I love dals (lentil curries) and this toor dal with tomatoes and ginger is my most favourite. This yellow lentils or pigeon pea recipe is my paternal grandmother’s. So, while I have grown up eating this, I still very regularly make it, too. In fact this is my go to dal recipe when I am really seeking some comfort food. It is very quick to make and with minimal ingredients. Probably as basic as it could get. The tomatoes and ginger are the main flavouring agents here. Additionally, I have laced my dal with tempered cumin seeds and hing, in ghee. I promise, when you pair this up with some steaming hot rice, you will realise bliss! 🙂

To make the lentil curry, I have pressure cooked the dal with the tomatoes and ginger and then laced it with the tempering. So, this is totally an under 30 minute recipe. I especially make this when back from a long holiday or when I am too lazy to cook. This dal is good food in minutes! I love it with some steaming hot rice with some lemon juice squeezed over. Nonetheless, this pairs very well even with rotis and naans. The choice is yours. In fact, this tastes lovely, as is too. Hence, you also have an option of sipping on it as a lentil soup.

Toor dal

Toor dal is also known as arhar dal in Hindi, and is a very common lentil in India. Most households, across the country will have this one in their pantry and so there are numerous recipes with it, too. While there are some very rich preparations too with this lentil, I find myself more often than not, settling for this simple one. And I have also seen, whenever I have made it for family and friends, it has been appreciated. After all, nothing compares the comfort of the most humble food combination ever – dal chawaal.

Besides, the tomatoes and ginger even ghee plays a great role in this recipe. Since this toor dal with tomatoes and ginger is made with minimal spices, the fragrance of the ghee lingers on until the last morsel. And that is the proverbial, icing on the cake here! And I’d like to urge you to use ghee only here and not oil. That’s because, even though with oil, the dal will still taste good, it won’t create the magic that ghee will. 🙂

Serving suggestions

Like I said earlier, this lentil curry is a yummy side dish with both rice and rotis or any Indian flatbread. When serving with rice, you could also add some papad on the side and an onion salad too. With rotis, an onion salad on the side works well too. Additionally, don’t forget to smear your Indian flatbreads with some more ghee when serving them with the dal! 🙂

I hope you will try my simple and soulful toor dal recipe sometime soon. And if you do, I’d be thrilled to hear back from you and also see pictures of how it turned out for you. You could share them with me over on Instagram. Also, it would mean a lot to me if you could rate the recipe below and/or drop a line of feedback in the comments section. Hoping to hear from you soon!

Eat hearty!