Recipe- North Indian Delicacy Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani, a North Indian delicacy that now internationally synonymous to Indian Cuisine, is creamy lentils cooked in onion-tomato gravy with cream and butter.

It is not a quick 15 minutes meal nor a low-calorie affair as the name suggests ‘Makhani means Butter’ and real flavor of dal comes by slow cooking it for a couple of hours. Some high-quality restaurants and dhabas cook it for around 24 hrs to get the authentic taste and flavor but since at home cooking time is limited this dal is cooked for 1-2 hrs on slow flame.

The onion and tomato masala that I make for Dal is very simple, I use very less onions and more of the tomatoes, ginger and garlic paste and just the garam masala but I simmer the dal for 1-2 hrs whenever I cook it for special occasions. My family loves this with Naan or Lachha Paratha and even with steamed rice.

Ingredients

Black Lentils/Sabut Urad- 200g/1 Cup
Red Kidney Beans- 50g/1/4 cup
Bay Leaves(Tej Patta)- 1
Cinnamon Stick(Dalchini)- 1?
Black Peppers- 4-5 nos.
Cloves- 4-5nos.
Black Cardamom- 1
Salt as per Taste
Onion- 1/2
Tomatoes- 4
Garlic- 4 cloves
Ginger- 1/2?
Green Chilli- 1-2(As per taste)
Oil- 1 Tsp
Garam Masala- 1-11/2 Tsp
Red Chilli Powder- 1/2 Tsp
Butter- 2-3 Tbsp
Cream- 2-3 Tbsp
Dried Fenugreek Leaves- 1/4 Tsp

Method

* Soak Black Lentils and Red Kidney beans overnight or at least for 5-6 hrs.

* After the soaking time, wash it thoroughly by rubbing the lentils in running water.

* In a pressure cooker, take the lentils and beans, add water. Water added should be double the amount of dal, as this dal soaks a lot of water.

* Cook dal in pressure cook on low flame for 1/2 an hr(30 mins)

* Finely chop onions, make the paste of ginger, garlic and green chilli.

* In a pan, add a tsp of oil, when the oil is warm, add a tbsp of butter, when hot enough, add jeera(cumin seeds), let it splatter, add ginger-garlic-green chilli paste. When it starts turning light brown and gives the aroma add onions and fry till the onions are translucent.Switch off the flame.

* Let the onions cool a bit, roughly chop tomatoes and grind together fried onions and tomatoes. Puree the tomatoes completely.

* Add tomato puree mix with onions and add a 1/4 Tsp of sugar, to regulate the acidity of tomatoes.

* Cook the masala for 5-10 minutes. Add a tbsp of cream to the masala and cook for another 2 minutes.

* When the pressure in cooker subsides, check for the doneness of lentils and beans, these should be soft and mushy. Add masala, mix well and lower the flame, add water to adjust the consistency of dal, dal should move freely when stirred with a ladle.

* Add a tbsp of butter and cream again and simmer dal on low flame for 1-2 hrs. In case you don’t have this much of time to cook, just cook the dal uncovered till well blended.

* Dry roast 1/4 tsp of Dry Fenugreek leaves(Kasuri Methi), crush it finely and add to the dal mix well.

* Once the dal is done serve hot with Naans/Kulchas/Rice or any flatbread of your choice.

* Add some more cream to more butter to it before serving, come on this Dal Makhani.