1. Instead of Red Lentils, some variations use Yellow lentils, Split and skinned Green Gram lentils etc. You can use them on their own or with combination. I sometimes add few spoons of Green gram to this dish.
2. I like the fried taste of julienned ginger hence add them along with the tempering ingredients. But you can instead chop them/grate them and add it along with the garlic while preparing the base.
3. The restaurant version use about 4-5 tbsps of Ghee for tempering which gives it that gourmet taste. At home I tend to use 1-2 tsp. of oil (to make it Vegan too) instead for regular consumption using the 2 tbsp of ghee when I entertain. You can use a combination of ghee and oil or only oil for your preparation depending on your preference.
4. Adding lemon juice or any kind of citrus helps in the absorption of iron from the lentils hence I tend to add lemons juice to all my dals. I especially love adding Meyer Lemons to it. It makes the dal taste even better.
5. If making it Punjabi Style, skip the curry leaves. Few punjabi versions tend to also add Garam Masala (about 2-3 tsp.) and kalonji (1/4 tsp.) to the dal.