Step 1

Wash your toor dal a few times, replacing the water until it is clear.

Step 2

Place dal in pressure cooker with 4-5 cups of water, 1 tsp salt and a pinch of turmeric. Seal lid. Cook over medium high heat for 6 whistles of the pressure cooker. Remove from heat *but do not remove lid!*. There is still a great deal of pressure built up which must dissipate, set aside 10 minutes.

Step 3

Chop onion and tomatoes small dice sized. Chop green chili. Make a rough paste of ginger and garlic together.

Step 4

In a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat, heat ghee or oil and once hot add half each of mustard seeds and cumin seeds until they start to pop. Add curry leaves and sauté 10 seconds. Be cautious, this step can cause splattering oil.

Step 5

Add in chopped onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they are soft and start changing color. Add ginger garlic paste, chopped green chili and sauté for a minute. Now add in chopped tomatoes along with your spice powders. Mix well and cook for 10-15 minutes, until tomatoes are soft and cooked.

Step 6

Add the cooked dal. Mix in additional water, according to the consistency you like. Some prefer a little thicker dal and some soupy. And let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add in chopped cilantro.

Step 7

For the final tempering, in a small pan (such as a tadka pot), heat 4 Tbsp ghee. Repeat the tempering process in step 4, but this time add dried red chilis along with the curry leaves. At the very end, add a pinch of red chili powder, then pour this tadka mixture over the dal.

Step 8

Mix well and serve with basmati rice. Garnish with extra cilantro.