Toor dal fry
Preparation Time
5 minutes
Cooking Time
40 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Lunch
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Toor dal (arhar)
About This Recipe
Dal fry comes in two families, and this is the dry one. Where a toor dal recipe dhaba style simmers the dal wet and buttery, the Gujarati toor dal fry is cooked just short of soft, drained and fried in a hot kadhai so each grain comes out separate, glossy and dry. The peanut-and-coconut garnish with a little jaggery is the signature finish.
Keeping the grains whole is the whole skill, and it starts before the pot. The dal is not soaked, because soaked toor softens faster and collapses in the fry; it is cooked for exactly two whistles, drained completely, and folded through the tempering on a steady flame. Water is the enemy at every step — wet grains steam in the kadhai and break apart.
The garnish does the seasoning: roasted groundnuts for crunch, fresh coconut for softness, and a spoon of jaggery that melts into the hot dal as a sweet edge against the chilli. The toor dal guide covers the dal itself, and the toor dal recipes roundup has the rest.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Dal
- Toor dal (arhar) — 1 cup
- Water — 2 1/2 cups
- Turmeric Powder — 1/2 tsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
Tempering
- Groundnut oil — 2 tbsp
- Cumin Seeds — 1 tsp
- Mustard Seeds — 1 tsp
- Hing (asafoetida) powder — 1/4 tsp
- Curry Leaves — 8 leaves
- Dry red chilli — 2 pieces
- Green chilli, slit — 2 pieces
- Ginger, grated — 1 tsp
Garnish
- Groundnuts — 30 g
- Fresh coconut, grated — 2 tbsp
- Jaggery powder — 1 tsp
- Fresh coriander leaves, chopped — 2 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Serve hot with bhakri, roti or steamed rice, plus a bowl of curd and sliced raw onion; it is also the dal that travels, so pack it with thepla or roti in a lunchbox. Leftovers keep up to two days in the fridge, and the grains stay separate when reheated in a wide pan.
Tips for Cooking Toor dal fry
The two decisions are the whistle count and the drain: cook exactly two whistles and drain the dal completely before it meets the oil. Fry on a steady medium flame and fold gently with a spatula, never a hard stir. Add the jaggery last so it melts into the hot dal without burning.
Chef’s Note
Cooked from unsoaked dal, the grains hold their shape through the fry; a soaked batch will break. A plate comes to about 275 kcal with 12.6 g of protein and 5.3 g of fibre, the groundnuts and the oil carrying most of the fat.
Per serving (approx.): 275 kcal, protein 13 g, carbs 30 g, fat 11 g, fibre 5.3 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Apr 28, 2026
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