Dal Makhani
If there is anything comforting food wise , it is dal. Indian food has so many varieties of dals. It is quite a staple comforting food for us. Back in India, we would have dal almost everyday for lunch. For my family, it would be usually Gujarati style dal made from a different variety of lentil called toor dal. There are plenty of different varieties but there are different methods also of cooking dal. Every region in India has a different method.
The one I am sharing today is from Punjab region, northern part of India. But, its far and wide easily found in homes and restaurant tables across the country or outside India.
Have you ever had dal makhani ? Makhani refers to the ‘creamy’ ‘buttery’ component of the sauce. You might have heard chicken makhani, paneer makhani its the same idea and the sauce has same ‘buttery’ taste to it. The idea is to simmer it on slow flame for long time. But, if you are on time crunch its totally fine to take it off in few minutes of simmering.
Did I tell you, it taste better next day as left overs just like a lot of Indian dals and curries. The flavors get time to rest and develop, so what I am trying to convince you is that you should double the recipe. Because, you want to have leftovers.
I came up with this recipe after a lot of trials. Its not a difficult recipe but to get that prefect taste, I had to make few attempts. Honestly, my mom didn’t make this dal. So, I had to learn it by myself. Its one of my favorite dals. B had never tried dal makhani before, once he tried it with that smoky flavor (I will talk about that in a minute) but now he loves it. He enjoys it more than me now.
Any dish with lentils or beans needs that prep work. But its very rewarding. Often times, I will soak lentils at night before going to bed. It has become a ritual and habit. In the morning, I will boil it and leave it to cook for later. Or do this step on weekends.
You can easily boil some extra and then freeze it. It stores very well. Whenever you want to make it, take it out of the freezer and make the sauce, add frozen lentils and it prevents you from all that prep work of soaking lentils and then boiling it. I don’t even thaw the dal. It thaws itself in the hot sauce mixture and you can add some water to it so that the sauce does not stick and get burned.
Urad dal has sticky texture once its boiled and that adds to the creaminess. The best part is you can make it with coconut milk and it will taste equally delicious without all that cream.
For the smoky flavor which is totally optional, but once you try that method there is no going back. Try it to believe it. Be careful while handling the charcoal. Don’t drop it on your clothes or handle it with cotton mittens. Use proper tongs. I would highly suggest you place the small bowl in the big pot of dal before you burn the charcoal. So, once the charcoal is hot, you place it and pour the ghee. Also, when you pour ghee make sure the turn on the vent on your stovetop. It fumes up. You definitely want to keep fire alarms from not buzzing off at this time. Keep the lid of the pot close to you or if you plan on using foil, then keep it ready before you start this process.
Dal is extremely comforting. Don’t we all need some form of comfort in these difficult times. Enough of talking, check out the recipe. If you like it please let me know!
Dal Makhani
Ingredients
- 1 cup black whole Urad dal, soaked for at least 6 hours/overnight
- 1/3 cup kidney beans soaked for at least 6 hours/overnight
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cardamom pod
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp green chili paste
- 1/2 cup onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi
- 1/4 cup heavy cream you can use half&half
- chopped cilantro for garnish
- lemon wedges
- dollop of ghee or butter
For smoky charcoal flavor, (optional)
- 1-2 pieces of charcoal
- 1 tsp ghee or butter
Instructions
- Soak the urad dal and kidney beans preferably overnight or atleast for 6 hours in 2.5 cups of water. Boil it in pressure cooker for about 6-7 whistles with 2 cups of water on medium flame or until it is cooked thoroughly but not mushed. Leave it aside once boiled.
- Take oil in a pot on medium heat. Once the oil heats up add the cumin seeds. Let them splutter.
- As soon as cumin seeds splutters, add the ginger, garlic, green chili paste followed by onions. Stir everything and let it cook for few minutes until the onions have softened up.
- Add the tomatoes, cook them for few minutes and add all the dry spices like red chili , turmeric, coriander powder, along with garam masala and stir everything well. Add salt as per your taste.
- Add the boiled lentils along with the water they were boiled in the pot as well. Mix well.
- Add the kasuri methi and cream. Add water more water if needed. Mix it well and let it simmer for few minutes until it has nice consistency.
- Serve it with cilantro , lemon and a dollop of ghee.
For the Smoky flavor
- Very carefully, heat the charcoal with the help of tongs on the flame directly on stove until it looks little bit greyish in color and hot. Place that piece of charcoal in a small heatproof bowl that can fit into the pot of lentils we just made. Immediately pour ghee into the charcoal, be very careful as it will start fuming. Cover the whole pot with a lid or foil to trap the smoke. Leave it like that for at least 10 minutes. When you are ready to serve, take out the bowl with charcoal. Discard it. Serve the dal makhani with garnishes alongside naan, roti or rice.
Notes
Enjoy! XO, Devangi