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Tadka Pasta

4.8

(14)

Tadka Pasta Recipe
Photo by Isa Zapata, food styling by Micah Morton, prop styling by Nicole Louie

When my mother came home from school as a kid in Bombay, her mother used to make her a super-quick pasta of noodles tossed in a fragrant tadka for flavor. A few decades later in Atlanta, my grandmother made a version of it as an after-school snack for me, too, but here, she sometimes used instant noodles and I sometimes added a few healthy shakes of Parmesan. Now, a couple decades after that, I’ve added some vegetables—and rarely skip the parm—for a dish that comes together so fast that I can make it and eat it in a 30-minute break between meetings. —Sonia Chopra

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

2

cups fresh or frozen, thawed corn kernels, peas, and/or chopped green beans

Kosher salt

1

lb. spaghetti

2

Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. peanut oil or ghee

2

tsp. black mustard seeds

30

curry leaves (3–4 sprigs)

2

tsp. urad dal

½

tsp. asafetida

4

Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2

oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup); plus more for serving (optional)

2

Tbsp. chana dal, soaked 15 minutes, drained, or chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    If using fresh peas and/or green beans, cook in a large pot of boiling salted water just until bright green, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a small bowl.

    Step 2

    Add pasta to same pot of boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

    Step 3

    Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium. Cook mustard seeds until oil around seeds is sputtering (cover skillet if you are getting splattered), about 10 seconds. Add curry leaves, urad dal, and asafetida and stir to combine. Cook until fragrant and urad dal is golden, about 1 minute.

    Step 4

    Add corn (or fresh or frozen peas and green beans) to wok and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add pasta and toss to combine, then add butter, 2 oz. Parmesan, and reserved pasta cooking liquid and toss until butter and cheese are melted and coat pasta. Toss in chana dal.

    Step 5

    Divide pasta among bowls and top with more Parmesan if desired.

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Reviews (14)

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  • The soaked urad dal is supposed to be crunchy. Note that the other option is peanuts.

    • Anonymous

    • Louisville KY

    • 5/3/2022

  • This recipe looks delicious but I'm so confused about the dal. You soak the chana dal and then eat it without cooking it? I always thought dal had to be cooked for much longer or in a pressure cooker?

    • Anonymous

    • 2/23/2022

  • I made tadka orzo - tadka was cumin seeds. Vegetables were peas carrots and beans. My own recipe.

    • Reva

    • New Bern, NC

    • 6/16/2021

  • I’d like to make this next week, but I don’t see the curry leaves in the final dish, if there’s 30 of them you think you would, do they need to be on stalks?

    • Kara

    • North Carolina

    • 6/4/2021

  • Actually, genuinely, INSANELY good. Reminds me of sevai upkari (made with vermicelli and similar spices). The butter is a decadent addition and it literally took 8 minutes end to end because I had some cooked pasta in the fridge. Kudos!!

    • Anonymous

    • 5/31/2021