We love all dhal receipes in our house - but we especially love the tarka dhal you get in Indian restaurants, somehow it always has a really smoky flavour. We've tried and tried to replicate the smokiness but can't quite get there. Any ideas?

Try putting whole cloves of garlic in a low oven so that roast in their own juices until nutty brown... then add it ...

I too have often wondered how they get that smokey flavour into restaurant food. I have come to the conclusion that it is to do with the industrial cookers that they use, which can get the temperature of cooking up far far higher than a domestic cooker. For example, when they cook things in a wok the heat is so high that the food in the wok often "catches light" and all the food gets that smokey flavour due to this. If you try to do that at home, first of all its a fire risk, and secondly, no matter how long i have left my wok on the cooker to heat up, it JUST DOES NOT GET TO THAT REALLY HOT TEMPERATURE that can be achieved on industrial cookers.

The smoky flavour comes from the smoke of the 'tarka'. Look under 'Basic Tempering' at http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10182

I had not thought of mentioning the reason for basic tarka, but have now amended the recipe.

I am not at a place with broad band at present, so typing anything is rather slow. Hope it works for you.

mamta

Mamta,

We've tried your recipe, and very nice it is too, but it isn't at all "smoky". Heated the ghee smoking hot, added cumin seeds that immediately fried and darkened a lot, added the asafoetida powder etc. All seemed pretty hot, smelt real smoke(!) and so were hopeful that this would inject desired smoke taste when added to dhal. But it just didn't do at all.

Have you any more ideas?

Thanks,

Kacey.

In my experience, Dal does smell a bit smokey after Tarka, if you use a cast iron ladle.

No more ideas except just this one;

Are you dipping the ladle into the dal for tarka, closing the lid as you dip it, instead of just pouring it on top? This is the way we usually do it, I just never thought of writing it into the recipe this way!

If this has the desired effect, let me know, I will specify it in each recipe when I return to base.

Alternatively, how about asking your restaurant how they do it? If you butter them up first and tell them how many new customers you have introduced to their restaurant, they might oblige ;-)

Mamta

Hi Mamta,

Yes we have tried both pouring the tarka onto the dhal and immersing the ladle into the dhal. We have enjoyed the results but we are still finding the restaurant style smoky taste elusive. We've done all but get down on our knees and beg for the recipe at several restaurants and whilst they're happy to reel off the ingredients and method - they either can't/won't divulge the secret of the smokiness. Any more suggestions from anyone will be tested thoroughly.

Thanks,

Kacey

One more thought about the 'tarka';

Have you added a pinch of asafoetida, along with the cumin/mustard seeds and whole chillies, to the oil? This gives dals a very distinctive flavour.

The smokey taste comes from frying slices of garlic until they are brown, almost burnt, but not quite and giving off a smokey aroma.

For what it's worth, I think Bob is probably right about that.

Phil

Tarka with garlic fried in hot oil does taste very nice, although I hadn't thought of it as smoky before :-)! Heat oil, add cumin seeds and when they splutter, add finely grated garlic. Grated tastes better than crushed or chopped in my view.

Mamta

Grated vs crushed vs thin slices vs slices of whole garlic is a big debating point in the household, Mamta.

For Indian food, we use mostly use grated garlic, or garlic done in a blender, often with root ginger and a little water, to make a paste for inclusion in Indian sauces.

For some Chinese dishes, we use thin strips of garlic, but sometimes, for both Chinese and Indian, we like slices of an entire garlic clove, and I wonder whether that might not be best in this case. Depends on what we all interpret 'smoky' as.

For Mediterranean salads, we use grated raw garlic. This makes you stink, but since we both do this, we don't notice it on each other's breath. In brief, we stink, and we don't care!

Life without garlic would be intolerable for us: we use it for the main three types of food we cook: Indian, Chinese, and Mediterranean.

Phil

Hello Phil

When I said grated tastes better, I meant for tarka dal, not for everything. I am sorry, it is my fault, I did not make it clear. I quite agree with you, sliced is generally better for Chinese and even some Indian bhajies (dry curry, without sauce) and fro Curry sauce, it is better grated or ground with onion and ginger.

Isn't funny, the day you don't eat garlic, it is revolting on other's breath. When you eat it yourself, you don't notice it on anyone elses!

I love garlic chives too and use them as garnish on soups/salads, just like wild garlic leaves. Garlic greens/wild garlic leaves even makes a nice bhaji, mixed with tiny new potatoes.

Mamta

i think i may have found how they make that smokey flavour...I recently bought a shan keema curry mix from an asian store which turned out ok but there was anoother recipe on the box which used a fruit guava i think..anyway it says at the end of cooking use a small steel container and put a tablespoon of ghee into it, then add a lump of hot charcoal then quickly sit the container in the pot of curry and put on the lid for a few mins. I think this could be the smokey flavour.

You may be right about the ladle! I did mention a cast iron (not steel) ladle in my reply, see 6th reply from the top, under 'Smokey dal'! I don't think it is the charcoal, because home made dal in India still smells smokey, and everyone uses gas these days. The only thing is, they all have an iron ladle. I must get another one and try, I threw away my old one in favour of a non-stick one!!

Mamta

Yes, it is the cast iron ladle that gives it the smokey flavour.

Rashmi

mamta, let me know where you get your ladle from. i wonder if they do it in ealing road wembley?

I will probably get mine from India. I go there twice a year. I am sure that large Indian grocers in UK will have it.

Mamta

I would fry onions until very brown and blend them to give them brown consistency in the dal...add them at a later stage but when you start with the cinnamon stick and jeera and ghee or butter add chopped white onion and brown that too and add fresh tomatos once browned and lots of garlic..not to sure about ginger in this dal maybe a little but garlic is a winner!

At the end add the blended onions to give u a bit of browness or just fry sliced onions until brown and crispy and add them as a garnish!!!

I must get a British friend to get me one of those ladles: I did tarka dal last night, and it wasn't very smoky!

Phil

Would I be guessing correctly that the more you use something for making Tarka's on, the more it will smoke?... Just going off what its like with a well seasoned thick cast iron frying pan when its been used for sometime...

Steve

I would like to know the receipy for your tarka dhal?

I would like to know the receipy for your tarka dhal? OOOPPSS,just found it.

Glad to be of help... lol

Steve

Steve, I suppose it all depends on whether you clean the pot or not, and how much residual oil has been left in it, though this is likely to be very little.

A well seasoned cast iron pan (I use them a lot) will have a thin layer of oil on the inner surface, though, contrary to many peoples' belief, I believe the black non-stick coating is not due to oil, but black iron oxide (magnetite).

The biggest danger of continually using the (uncleaned) pot is the risk of burning the ingredients, as residue from the previous tarka. I would recommend light cleaning in warm water with a little detergent, it does not totally remove the residual oil, but a little more can (and should) be added, though wiped off before use.

For my tadkas, I usually use a non-stick frying pan, this reduces the risk of burning the spices.

HTH

cheers

Waaza

I suppose if you clean it before or after each use its not going to smoke as much as letting it build up then.

ta

Steve

Hi!

Mamta, this is a great site, I enjoy it a lot. I am quite new to indian cooking but I would like to offer a suggestion for adding "smokeyness"; it worked for me in tarka dhal and in a smokey tomato chutney. It is either one of these two ingredients that add a smokey flavor; proof is that if you chew on a chunk of them when found in the dhal or chutney you feel the smokey taste much stronger. I am talking about black cardamom pods (this provides the strongest smoke flavour in my experience) and chipotles (smoked jalapeno chilies). What do you think?

Dan thats probably not far off as I use black cardamons when making BBQ sauce to get the smokey flavour.

Steve

i have seen a recipe for this which used smoked paprika,i dont know if this will help

the technique of placing a vessel containing charcoal into a pot, and adding ghee and spice/s is called dhungar, very often used in Awadhi cooking. It is not, to my knowledge, used for tarka/tadka/chowk.

cheers

Waaza

Is that what they did on Rhodes into India last night?

A big pot of curry and then added a small metal cup with some ghee in, then placed a red hot charcoal into the ghee and closed the lid. This created a lot of smoke into the pot.

Steve

I didn't see it Steve,(only have freeview) but it sounds like it. I've not tried this technique (intentionally ;?) but want to try it sometime. The problem is finding a bowl which will not provide toxic corrosion products.

cheers

Waaza

After consultation with my mum, I am in India at present, I have just bought myself a cast iron tarka ladle. It is the smoking hot oil ghee in the hot iron ladle that 'sort of' smokes the chillies when added to it. This is what that give the dal it's smokey flavour. You have to remember that most Indians that come from this part (Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand) of India, never add garlic and onions to their tarka, not even tomatoes. That is more a Punjabi tradition, adopted by most of us.

Mamta

I have a problem with cooking dhal - it always comes off a little bitter; the one from the restaurants is never bitter and I don't know what am I doing wrong. I am using what I think is masoor dhal (?) - it is an orange coloured lentil. I follow a simple recipe, boiling the lentils with turmeric, ginger, garlic and cumin powder, then adding a tarka at the end. I tried with and without some of these ingredients but it always comes out slightly bitter. I also tried longer (2 hours) or shorter (45 minutes) cooking times - same result. My wife and friends are saying it is not a big deal, but it upsets me that I can't get rid of that bitter taste. I am thinking that maybe I didn't wash the lentils enough? I always see in recipes "wash until water comes out clear", but, hw clear? I always stoped washing when I can see the lentils thrugh 2-3 inches of water, even if the water is not crystal clear... should I wash them more? also, I never skimmed the foam that forms when boiling, could that be the reason for bitterness?

Another thing that bothers me is that even though I use red (orange) lentils, they always come out green (ish) when cooked, while the restaurant ones or the ones I see on the internet are always yellow, not green! wtf?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Hi Dan

Most probable cause for a bitter dal is adding too much turmeric. For one cup of raw masoor (and other) dal, you need no more than 1/2 teaspoon of it. It can be a bitter spice when used in excess. I once knew a man who added 5 tsp. of turmeric to his chicken curry for two. He read .5 as 5! He was so upset that his curry came out bitter every time, bless him!

There is no need to add cumin powder, ginger and garlic during boiling, these can be, and usually are, added to tarka. Make sure that ginger and garlic are not burnt though, these will also get bitter if burnt.

When making Indian food, try to err on the side of less, rather than more when it comes to spices. You can always spice up a dish later on, too much of spices drown the taste of main ingredients. Best cooks do not make their food overly spiced.

You are washing the perfectly, it is done just to remove the dust. Masoor dal doesn?t need soaking, it cooks very fast.

Most dals are cleaned and pre-packed these days and do not produce a lot of foam, but if you are cooking something like urad/urid dal, it does give out a lot of foam and you can skim it off. I cook most of my dals in a pressure cooker, so there is no need for skimming.

I am not sure why your red lentils come out green, they do usually come out yellow. Let me know if this happens after you reduce turmeric.

I was going to say the same about too much turmeric/haldi as to me it tastes creamy in small amounts but gets very bitter if you put too much in. Second favourite would be the garlic being burnt, as that again goes really bitter (really you only want to soften and make is a warm golden colour. If its dark brown its going to be bitter).

As for red (orange) lentils going green? Are you using a copper pan/utensils ? Using an awful lot of green spices compared to the amount of lentils ? I can't think any amount of over or undercooking would make them green.

Steve

Hey Mamta and guys - thank you for the advice. Indeed I was using too much turmeric. I will try again this weekend and be much more carefull with the yelloow stuff!

Ascky - I am using a stainless steel pot, so the funny colour is probably also from too much turmeric.

I'll get back to let you know how it worked out.

and take some pictures :-)

Steve

Lakeland in Brentcross sell Tarka Ladles!

Your tarka dal recipe No 2 is better than any we have tasted. All the children loved it, wonderful. Recommending your site to all my friends!

Hello Ann

Good morning :-! I am glad that you liked our website and thank you for recommending it to your friends. As I have said before, this is just a labour of love for us, something to do in my free time and promote Indian home cooking.

Yes it is quite good, it is a site user's recipe. Did you know that the most common dal that is used to make this type of dal in India is actually Tuvar or Arhar dal, pigeon peas and not red lentils. Restaurants use red lentils because it cooks very fast and thus easiest to make. It is only recently that they have started adding other dals to make it. Chana dal that is used in this particular recipes that you tried, is probably the least commonly eaten dal in India.

Another interesting thing is that all dals are tarka dals as far as Indians are concerned. Tarka is simply a process or procedure of ?tempering? a cooked dal, any dal, that is given to all dals after they have been cooked. It is a sort of garnish, to lift a boiled dal out from just boiled to a ?finished? product. In UK, the word ?Tarka dal? has become synonymous with the yellow coloured dal made of red lentils. I wish some of the restaurant will try serving a wide variety of other dals on their menu!

Generally speaking, you can mix any dals and cook them together. Tarka Dal 2 has 2 mixed. My special favourite is Panch Ratan or Five Jewels, a mix of five dals. But it is not ?yellow? so probably not meet with approval of most UK crowd.

When you make it next time Ann, send in some pictures. I made something very similar 2 days ago, but forgot to take pictures! As you may have noticed, I am in the process of adding pictures to my site these days, but there are just too many recipes for me to cook them all quickly!

I just saw something elsewhere related to this, and I think it may contain the elusive answer you're looking for:

http://cooking-goodfood.blogspot.com/2009/06/dhaba-style-palak-paneer-spinach-and.html

The writer of that Indian food blog comments that the smoky flavor characteristic in dhaba food can come from a technique she describes in the entry of actually catching the tempering oil in the pan on fire for a brief moment.

This actually makes a lot of sense to me. Restaurant-style gas ranges are much more powerful than most domestic ranges, and working with high flames for fast to-order dishes is the regular order of business. It's common in these restaurants to catch glimpses through the opening kitchen door of the chef shaking the pan on the stove and the flame momentarily leaping up into the pan when they do this. I know I've seen this. I think it's likely as simple as that. Restaurant cooking is done very quickly, and efficiency is everything: I think it's much more likely to be something simple such as this, rather than a more lengthy and complicated technique such as putting ghee and cumin seeds on a lit coal in a metal bowl, and covering the dish with a lid to impart smoke that way (a technique that a Punjabi woman described to me once that her mother had used).

I was also looking for the "secret" to smoky flavors in restaurant Indian dishes (in this case, a phenomenal palak paneer). I haven't tried this myself because we currently have an electric range--but we're getting a gas range soon and I look forward to giving it a shot.

Above all else though, please be safe if you do this... They're not talking about setting oil for deep-frying on fire(!) Just a little residual oil in the pan that's off to the side along with the cumin seeds and onions--and only momentarily. Please read the linked post to see it described fully.

Hope this helps.

I cook with electrickery... if I want a smokey flavour I add smoked paprika (I'm currently keeping my eye out for smoked salt)... which is probably not anything like authentic but its an option...

I to have seen flames from the pan (at least 2 foot high) in restaurant kitchens and really wouldn't want it in my home...! :-)

Steve

You are totally correct JK. When I do tempering for dals (and everyone else I have seen do a tarka in India, including my mum), I leave my cast iron tarka ladle on the gas hob for a bit before adding oil/ghee to it. Often the ghee flames for a few seconds when added to a very, very hot ladle. When you add cumin/hing/chilli etc to it, they give out a very thick smoke and smoky flavour. It is not poured over the dal, the ladle is then dipped into it, lifting the lid slightly, putting the ladle in and then covering the dal immediately, to stop the hot dal splashing all over you. I do it without thinking. This aroma can be experienced up and down the streets in north India, when most households are tempering their dal for lunch!

My feeling is that it happens in a cast iron ladle better than a lot of non-stick type of ladles that are used these days.

Perhaps it is time to write a ?How to ?temper? dals and other things to get the smoky flavour? for the site. Or perhaps write a paragraph on tempering to get smoky flavour and add it to each dal recipe as notes? What does everyone else thinks?

The more information the better, so lets have a "how to temper for that smokey flavour"

Steve

Okay, will have to take a couple of pictures to show what I mean.

This sounds like a case of needing three hands - may be best to get someone else to take photos whilst one person does the tarka - don't want any hot oil burns!

Kavey

A friend of mine used to order tarka dal with his Indian take away and sometimes there was what appeared to be the outer husk of a brown cardamom pod floating in it. Do you think that once it has been fried in hot oil for a few seconds that this could be contributing to the smoky flavour of the tarka? Just food for thought and no pun intended.

Andrew

Will have to try that cardamom husk bit, I have never heard of it before!

It's not something I have tried myself nor is it something I would have considered trying. Next time I make dal I will give it a try and see how it comes out. I've never eaten dal from a restaurant or a take away so I wouldn't know what their version tastes like anyway.

On a slightly different note. There is and Indian take away near to me that used to be run by Bangladeshi people (it's since been taken over by new owners), and although I'm not a huge fan of Indian take away, their onion bhajis are the nicest ones I've ever eaten. I've tried all ways to replicate the flavour and I think I've got the spices right, but the texture is still something I need to work on. The ones they made were always really crispy, but mine never seem to crisp up in quite the same way. Do you have any tips on how to get them nice and crispy, Mamta?

One thing I have been doing is deep frying them as normal and then putting them in the oven for a while on about 150C until they crisp up slightly. This seems to work well on the outside but the inside is still quite soft. I know it probably sounds a little odd, but theirs were nice and crispy all the way through. I'm now thinking that maybe they were making them in bulk and leaving them in a hot cupboard or something.

Looking at them once I remember seeing fennel seeds, masoor dal, white poppy seeds and ajwain seeds in them. The colour inside was more red than yellow. The onions were sliced long and really thinly as appose to diced and they were round and the bhajis were round and not flat.

Andrew

Hello Andrew

There must be a different way of making Onion Pakoras (bhajies in UK) in each Indian house.

To make them really crisp, sellers (street food vallahs in India) make them half fried first and keep them. When you order them, they quickly re-fry them. This seems to make them a lot crisper. Some of my family members do it too, for special occasions. But this also means that they absorb a lot more oil, something about which restaurants are not worried, but I am!

Traditionally, carom seed are added to the pakora batter, but there is no reason why you can't replace it with fennel or cumin or anything else for that matter.

Adding a hadful of dry methi leaves (Kasoori methi) also make pakoras taste nice, it goves them a sort of 'deeper' flavour.

Red colour is a new one on me. I don't see the need for it. Perhaps they were using up some of there left-over tandoori marinade or dal!

Interesting. I have heard that restaurants partly deep fry them and then finish them off when ordered. I might try that when I make my next batch of onion bhajis (I made a batch yesterday).

When I wrote that they were red in the middle I don't mean they were a really dark red, but more of an orange colour (my mistake, I don't know why I wrote red). I thought that maybe it was tomato puree, but to get the batter to an orange colour like theirs meant adding a lot of tomato puree (I tried it). Maybe they were using up some left over dal like you mentioned because they often had masoor dal inside them. I always assumed they were just adding raw masoor dal to the mixture, but maybe they were using up leftover dal that hadn't been flavoured with oil (tarka), it would certainly make sense. I will give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

I made another batch of onion bhajis last night and I added some surplus dal (masoor) to the mixture, and while it produced a really nice result it obviously isn't what they were adding to their mixture. I'm going to make it again though because it the texture of the OBs was really fluffy. I think what they were doing was using dehydrated onions to make them, like the ones you add to biryani.

I have written down about how to give a smokey tarka to dals; http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13656 Hope this works for you.

Mamta

I've just been reading through this thread and realised that we got on to the topic of onion bhajis, or at least you and I did, Mamta LOL!

I thought I'd mention that a few days ago I was watching a video on youtube showing an Indian chef in a restaurant making onion bhajis. From what I could see (aside from the spices) he added matchstick-sized pieces of potato, eggs, orange food colouring and gram flour to the bhaji mixture. It didn't show him adding any water to the mixture, so maybe that would produce a more crispy result? I will give it a try when I get chance and I will let you know how it goes.

I imagine that if you allow the mixture to stand for long enough that the onions will release their water, hence the fact he never added any water. Doesn't adding salt to diced vegetables draw the water out of them?

Hellow Andrew

Traditionally, bhajis or 'pakoras' as they are known more commonly in India, are vegetarian and do not contain eggs. The crispness is from adding a pinch of baking powder/and double frying. Freshly made pakoras are always crisp, they have to be served straight out of the oil.

Mamta I've just spotted your addition of the "smokey tempering", thanks

Steve

You are welcome Steve :-)

I don't use baking powder anymore, just besan flour and warm water. Getting the right consistency is very important to the final product. I also use my hand blender to start to break down the proteins n the flour. Mushrooms done this way are wonderful.

You mean Mushrooms pakoras Lapis?

You know lapis, in my mother's generation, they did not use baking powder. they just beat the besan until a test drop of the batter dropped into a glass of water floated to the top. This didn't give consistent result, because everyone didn't beat the batter enough. Though I also use an electric beater these days, I find that a little pinch of baking powder ensures crispness.