A tarka is a delicious spice-flavored ghee, mostly used in dal dishes and in raitas. There

Serves 4

For this Basic Tarka recipe you need

1 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 dried red chili ( crushed or whole )
½ teaspoon asafoetida powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Basic Tarka Recipe

In a ladle or small frying pan, heat the ghee. Add the spices and sauté for a few minutes, until well-toasted and fragrant. Add the tarka to the dal dish and cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid. Allow to stand for a few minutes while the flavors blend.

Variation :
When making a moong bean dal, use the seeds of 1 black
Cardamom pod, 2 whole cloves, and 1 teaspoon black cumin
Seeds.

Background information on this Basic Tarka recipe

A tarka, or spice-flavored ghee, is prepared and added to a dish just before serving.
There are two popular types of tarkas: those made with garlic and dried red pepper, and those made with cumin, cardamom, and cloves. Both contain a pinch of asafoetida powder. With moong dal, the cumin seed tarka is usually used.

A tarka is usually part of a basic raita. Raitas or Yogurt salads are an ideal summer food because yogurt is cooling and has a regenerating effect on the system. In winter, yogurt's cooling effect can be balanced with the help of warming spices, such as nutmeg, saffron, cinnamon, ginger or cloves.

Basic Tarka Recipe extracted from the recipes of the "Healing Cuisine" book, which contains over 200 tasty ayurvedic, vegetarian recipes (see full list of vegetarian recipes)