Dal Makhani

5 from 14 votes

Packed with the goodness of whole lentils and bright spices, this luscious, creamy-textured dal is super easy to make, flavor-packed, protein-rich, and, most importantly, universally loved by all.

Cook: 1 30

Soak time8

Total: 9 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Calories: 273kcal

Author: Ruchi

Ingredients

FOR DAL

¾ cup Sabut Urad Dal Whole Black gram da
¼ cup Rajma Red Kidney Beans
1 teaspoon Salt
¾ teaspoon Haldi (Turmeric powder)
3¼ cups Water

FOR TADKA/MASALA FOR DAL

1½ tablespoons Butter
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
½ teaspoon Garlic paste
1 teaspoon Ginger paste
1 medium Onion finely chopped
2 small Tomatoes chopped
¼ teaspoon Deggi Mirch
3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Coriander powder
¾ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
¾ cup Milk
2½ tablespoons Cream
1 teaspoon Kasoori Methi
¾ cup Water to adjust consistency

FINAL TEMPERING

1 tablespoon Butter
½ teaspoon Garlic paste
¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

DHUNGAR METHOD

- - Pieces of charcoal
- - Ghee

GARNISHES

- - Cream
- - Butter

Instructions

SOAK THE LENTILS

Sort through the lentils to remove all the pebbles and gritty things.
Rinse the lentils and beans until tap water. Rub the grains in between your fingers to get rid of all the residues.
Transfer the rinsed lentils to a clean bowl. Soak the dal in enough water to cover the dal by about an inch. Make sure the grains are completely submerged in water. Soak the dal overnight.

BOIL THE DAL

After the soak time is over, drain the water completely. Rinse the soak dal thoroughly under tap water, drain. Now, transfer the dal to a pressure cooker.
Pour in water. Make sure the dal is completely submerged in water. Add salt and turmeric to Maa ki dal. Mix to combine.
Seal the pressure with the lid and pressure cook the dal for 12-14 whistles. Remove from heat and allow the steam to release naturally.
Carefully open the lid and check the dal. Take a Rajma between your fingers and apply gentle pressure; if it breaks easily, the dal is ready. With the help of a masher, gently split the dal.

ASSEMBLE DAL MAKHANI

Add butter to a large pan. As the butter heats up, add cumin seeds to the pan. Sauté for a minute.
Stir in ginger and garlic paste.
Sauté for a few seconds until the raw smell goes away. Maintain the heat at medium and keep stirring continuously as we don’t want to burn the garlic.
Add chopped onions to the pan. Mix well.
Add degi mirch and Kashmiri red chili powder. Mix to combine.
Now, add chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring until the tomatoes break down and dissolve in the gravy.
Cook, stirring frequently until the oil separates from the masala.
Add tomato paste and mix. Tomato puree will lend our dal makhani gravy a smooth texture.
Mix it well. Stir in the spices – coriander powder, garam masala powder, and salt. Mix to combine.
Now, add the boiled dal to the pan. Add ¾ cup of milk and lower the heat to the lowest setting.
Mix well. Allow the dal to simmer uncovered at the lowest setting for about an hour. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent the dal from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
After the dal has simmered for an hour, it will appear thick; add 3/4 cup of lukewarm water to the dal. You may need more, so add accordingly. Add cream.
Add kasoori methi and allow the dal makhani to simmer for another 5-10 minutes at the lowest setting.
Dal will have a velvety and creamy texture by now. Take it off the flame and cover it with a lid.

FINAL TEMPERING

Heat butter or ghee in a separate pan. As the butter heats up, add garlic paste to the pan. Sauté for a minute.
Add Kashmiri chili powder to the pan. Mix well.
Take the pan off the heat and pour this tadka over dal makhani. Mix until fully incorporated.

DHUNGAR METHOD

Heat 2 pieces of charcoal briquettes over direct heat until red hot.
With the help of tongs, carefully drop the burning charcoal into a steel bowl or Katori.
Drizzle two teaspoons of ghee on top of the charcoal.
The charcoal will start to emit smoke. Immediately cover the bowl with a glass lid and let the dal makhani soak in all that smoky flavors for about 3-4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, carefully lift the hot bowl, and set aside.
Give the dal a final mix. Garnish dal makhni with butter and serve hot.
Dal makhni thickens as it cools; therefore, add more water to adjust it to the consistency you like.

Video

Notes

Tips to make a great tasting Restaurant-style dal Makhani

» Make sure your dal and beans are fresh and not aged. As older beans are tough and can take longer to cook.

» To soak or not to soak - That's a very questionable topic, but I always prefer to soak because of two main reasons -

First, soaking reduces the cooking time. When soaked for 6-8 hours or overnight, the dal softens, hydrates, and doubles in size.
Second, soaking breaks down the complex sugars that can make beans hard to digest. Soaking, in fact, improves digestibility and reduces the gas-producing properties of beans.

» If you forgot to soak the dal and beans, rinse them and soak in boiling water for 2-3 hours. Cooking unsoaked dal will take significantly longer to cook.

» To make dal makhani without onion and garlic, simply skip the steps where I have added onion-garlic paste to the recipe. The rest procedure to make dal makhni remains the same.

» Ghee, cream, and butter lend a rich and creamy texture to dal makhani; therefore, please do not cut back on these two. Be generous as they are the backbone of this recipe, and trust me, you are going to love the melt-in-your-mouth texture that's produced by these ingredients.

» I prefer to cook Maa ki dal with red onions as they have a mild flavor. The red onions don't have a strong flavor as compared to other varieties.

» This recipe can easily be scaled up or down to suit your preferences.

» For a completely smooth texture, you can substitute chopped tomatoes with store-bought tomato puree.

Nutrition