What softens onion dhal, cooked with a tiny bit of turmeric (4)
'what softens' is the definition.
'onion dhal cooked with a tiny bit of turmeric' is the wordplay.
'cooked with' indicates anagramming the letters.
'a tiny bit of' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'turmeric' is 't'.
'onion'+'dhal'='oniondhal'
'oniondhal' anagrammed with 't' gives 'HAND LOTION'.
'bit of turmeric' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'what softens onion dhal cooked with a tiny' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'with' could be 'and' (I've seen this before) and 'and' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'h' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for hand that I've seen before include "Script" , "Clock or watch pointer" , "Mitt" , "Limb extremity" , "Worker; pointer" .)