FOR THE LENTILS: Rinse the lentils and add them to the pressure cooker. The below picture shows only Toor daal. Fill the water just above the lentils. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pressure cook the lentils for 1 whistle. Keep aside.

Peal and chop 1/2 the onion, ginger, garlic and green chili and put in a blender until finely crushed. Keep the paste aside.

Heat oil/ ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add onions, ginger and green chili and saute for 5 minutes till the oil starts to leaves the sides of the pan.

Put tomatoes in blender and crush. Now stir in tomatoes so that the paste does not stick to the pan. Add garam masala, turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida. Lastly add kasuri methi and red chili powder.

Pour the cooked lentils in fried mixture and stir. Turn down the heat and let simmer. If the dal looks thick, then add some water to get a medium consistency. Simmer the dal for 5 minutes.

FOR THE TEMPERING: Heat oil/ ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle. Then add crushed garlic and sauté. Make sure to fry the tempering ingredients at a low flame, so that you don't burn them. Pour the entire tempering along with the butter/ghee into the dal.

Take the same pan for tempering and slice 1/2 an onion horizontally in thin slices. Fry the onions in a tablespoon of oil till dark golden brown then scatter over the top of the daal, without mixing.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve Tarka Daal hot with steamed Rice, Biryani rice, Jeera rice. The Daal also goes well with Rotis or Naan.