Red Lentil Dal Tadka

Dal tadka is two recipes stacked: a plain pot of lentils, and a spoonful of spices bloomed in hot fat and poured over at the end.

The lentils are barely seasoned while they cook, because everything that makes the dish arrives in the last thirty seconds.

The tadka is the whole point. Poured over at the last second, it is the difference between lentil soup and dal.

Make the lentil base in quantity and fry a fresh tadka each time you reheat it.