Dhaba Dal Tadka (Mixed Dals)
The highway dhaba favourite: toor, masoor and chana dals cooked soft and finished with a smoky double tadka of ghee, garlic and dried red chillies.
- Region
- Delhi and wider North India
- Status
- Traditional
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Soak 30 min · Prep 10 min · Cook 30 min
- Serves
- 3
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Everyday dinner, batch cooking
- Tags
- Good source · High fibre · Soy-free · Whey-free · No added sugar · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- Milk (ghee, raita); gluten (roti)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 64 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 13 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dal tadka only (about 280 ml) | 235 | 13 g | 33 g | 5 g | 3 g | 8 g | 4 g | 5.5 g |
| Dinner plate: dal, 1 roti, 150 g cucumber raita | 450 | 22 g | 64 g | 10 g | 6 g | 13 g | 11 g | 5.0 g |
Good source (plate); the dish alone is High protein. Plate density is just under 5 g per 100 kcal before rounding. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 75 g toor dal · 50 g masoor dal · 35 g chana dal
- 80 g onion · 120 g tomato, chopped · 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste · 2 green chillies · ½ tsp turmeric · 5 g salt
- Tadka: 10 g ghee · 1 tsp cumin seeds · 4 garlic cloves, sliced · 2 dry red chillies · pinch of hing · ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder · ½ tsp garam masala · 1 tsp kasuri methi
- Plate: 105 g whole-wheat atta for 3 rotis · raita of 450 g curd and 150 g cucumber
Method
- Soak the dals together 30 minutes. Pressure-cook with turmeric, salt and 700 ml water for 4 whistles. Whisk lightly; it should be creamy but not smooth.
- Heat half the ghee; cook onion 5 minutes until golden. Add ginger-garlic paste, chillies and tomato; cook 5 minutes until soft. Add to the dal and simmer 8 minutes.
- For the final tadka, heat the remaining ghee until hot. Add cumin, garlic, red chillies and hing; when the garlic turns golden, take the pan off the heat and add chilli powder, garam masala and kasuri methi.
- Pour the tadka over the dal at the table. Serve with roti and raita.
Protein optimisation
- The three dals supply 12 g per serving; roti 4 g and raita 5.5 g on the plate.
- Boost: use hung curd for the raita (+7 g protein, +60 kcal per serving), which lifts the plate to High protein.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Dal fry — omit the second tadka and cook the dal thicker, with more onion and tomato.
- Smoky dhungar method: place a hot piece of charcoal in a small steel bowl on the dal, pour ½ tsp ghee on it, and cover for 2 minutes.
- Storage: 3 days refrigerated; freezes 2 months.
- Food safety: reheat until boiling.
- Meal prep: excellent.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com