Hyderabadi Khatti Dal is a hearty and comforting dish that is great to serve with rice or roti. It is a tangy and delicious dish with the addition of tomatoes & tamarind.
Today's bookmarked recipe, Hyderabadi Khatti dal, is part of the Hyderabadi thali that I made couple of months back. This is a hearty and comforting dish that is easy to make and tastes great with rice or roti. Recipe is from Tarla Dalal's site.
Both my kids love dal/ lentils and they can eat it almost every day. If I ever ask them what they want to eat for lunch, they'll indefinitely say rice and dal. I happily oblige and make them what they want -- little do they know that was on the menu to begin with 🙂
Hyderabadi Khatti Dal:
Well this Khatti dal is basically Hyderabadi version of good old tomato dal. It is made with toor dal or pigeon pea lentils. These are available in Indian or most Asian groceries or International isle of supermarkets. Toor dal forms the basis of many Indian lentil dishes.
Sour Dal:
The literal translation of Khatti is sour. So the sourness in this dish comes from 2 sources - tomatoes and tamarind. A nice dose of these 2 ingredients gives the dish a yummy tangy/ sour taste, hence the name 'khatti' dal.
Other Ingredients:
The sour flavor is balanced with the spices, ginger and garlic. It is just a delicious dish with tons of flavor.
This dal can be served with plain steamed white/ brown rice or roti or paratha. Add a vegetable side dish for a delicious meal.
Though I am from Hyderabad, I have never tired this dish when I was in India. Thanks to blogging, I am trying out many dishes that are from my city but never got to try them before. 
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 76.
Hyderabadi Khatti Dal
Ingredients
For Dal:
- ½ cup Toor dal, rinsed and drained
- 1½ cups Water, plus more if needed
- 1 Medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1" piece Ginger, finely grated
- 1~2 tablespoons Tamarind pulp
- ½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- 1~2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili powder
- To taste Salt
- 2 tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
For Tempering:
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 3~4 Dry Red Chilies, broken
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
- 6~8 Curry leaves
Instructions
Make Dal:
- Soak toor dal for at least 1 hour. Drain well.Combine soaked dal along with the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, turmeric and water in a pressure cooker. Mix well and cook for 4~6 whistles or until dal is very tender. Alternately cook in an Instant Pot for 8~10 minutes on High Pressure.
- Once the pressure comes down, open the lid and whisk the dal until smooth. Add tamarind pulp, green chilies, ground coriander, red chili powder and salt. If the mixture looks too thick, add more water. Mix well and cook on medium flame for 4~5 minutes.
Make Tempering:
- Heat a small pan on medium heat. Add ghee and once it melts, add mustard & cumin seeds, dry red chilies and cook until the seeds start to splutter. Stir in hing and curry leaves and cook for another 30 seconds. Pour the tempering over the dal and mix well. Serve hot with rice or roti.
Priya Suresh
Lipsmacking here, Khatti dal is just irresistible and very tempting as well.
Vaishali
Love that spread , very well served and I love this Daal , though I had given it a twist when I made it . Awesome !
Zerin
What a nicely put together tray of food. Everything looks lip smackingly good.
Gayathri Kumar
The dal sounds so yum with all the tamarind and tomatoes, and your spread looks super inviting..
PJ
That is one elaborate meal you have there Pavani! So good! And the dal sure sounds delicious.
Anlet prince - Annslittlecorner
True this is a comforting and hearty meal
Nalini
Dhal sounds interesting and this is one such comforting food..
Harini
A comforting dal indeed. I love dal with a nice dose of tangy flavor. So this one is ideal for me !
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner
Such a comfort food!!
Chef Mireille
this tangy dal must be delicious
Kalyani
lovely spread there, Pavani ! my eyes are drawn to the biryani too 🙂
Srivalli
Fantastic dal Pavani..and your spread is so inviting...
Sapna
Very inviting looking dal. It looks super tempting.
Saarah
How much water are you adding with 1 cup dal?
cookshideout
Hi Saarah, I use about 3 cups of water to cook the dal. You can add more if dal seems thick after cooking. Hope this helps. Thank you