Recipe- Restaurant Style Dal Makhani

An old school dal made with black lentils and kidney beans. Traditionally, this would be cooked slowly for hours to create the thick buttery consistency it's famous for. This dhal is poor man's food, yet it is rich in protein and I think is really simple food at its best. Now this style of slow cooking doesn't always work in the western world, so I speed up the process by soaking the beans and lentils overnight and then use a pressure cooker. You still get the buttery consistency you want, yet unlike the restaurant version I don't add buckets of cream (but I make up for this with a good chunk of butter!).

Ingredients

Lentils

100g dry urid dhal (whole black lentils)
25g dry rajma (kidney beans)

Masala

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3cm piece ginger, crushed
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 fresh tomatoes, puréed
2 green chillies, slit in ½
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaf (kasoori methi)
Salt to taste
1-2 tbsp butter
Handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method

- Clean, wash and soak the black lentils and kidney beans separately, overnight.

- Drain and keep aside. Combine the two dhals and add 2 cups of water with a little salt and put into a pressure cooker and cook for about 25 minutes until they are cooked and soft. (DO NOT REMOVE the lid of the pressure cooker until fully cooled and pressure has been released.)

- Heat the oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.

- When the cumin seeds crackle, add chopped onions and garlic.

- Fry the onion until golden brown over a medium flame.

- Stir in the tomato purée, add the turmeric, chilli powder, ginger, green chillies and crushed coriander.

- Cook for a few minutes so the onions and tomatoes melt together.

- Add the cooked dhal and 1 cup of water and season with a little salt to taste.

- Leave to simmer for 15 minutes until it is lovely and thick. (Take care as it may catch on the bottom of the pan.)

- Stir in the butter, garam masala and fenugreek to make the dhal rich and delicious.

- Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh coriander and serve.