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Tadka dal with sweet potatoes

Tadka dal is a traditional Indian dish, loved all over the world. It’s normally made with tempering, which means the spices are cooked separately and mixed with the dal just before serving. This Tadka dal with sweet potatoes is my version which I like eating during the winter. It's healthy, vegan, low-cal and gluten-free, yet filling, warming and hearty. Serve it with brown rice part of an Indian menu. For cooking the lentils you can use a pressure cooker.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: Indian
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup yellow split lentils chana dal
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 cm piece turmeric peeled
  • 2 cm piece ginger peeled
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 carrot
  • For Tempering/Tadka:
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 red chilli optional
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp peppercorn
  • 6-7 curry leaves optional
  • ½ tsp garam masala powder
  • Juice of half lemon
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method
 

  1. Soak the lentils overnight, then drain.
  2. Put the lentils, salt, ginger, turmeric, salt, tomato purée and water in a heavy-based pan and bring to the boil. Remove the foam, turn down the heat and gently simmer for 45-60 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. In a pressure cooker this could take only 15-20 minutes. Add more water during cooking, if it’s getting too dry.
  3. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and carrot. Add these to the lentils after 20 minutes of cooking.
  4. Thinly slice the onion and finely chop the garlic and chilli. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic, chilli, cumin & mustard seeds and stir constantly for a minute, or until the seeds start popping. Add the curry leaves and garam masala, stir for a few seconds, then turn off the heat.
  5. When the lentils are tender, using a potato masher, mash the dal (mainly the sweet potatoes) roughly.
  6. Add the tadka and lemon juice to the dal and combine. Taste, then adjust the seasoning to your liking.
  7. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, garnished with coriander leaves.