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Dal Makhani

By Gulshan BabbarOrigin: Punjab, India
🎙️ Listen to the related episode
Urad DalVegetarian
Dal Makhani

Flavour Notes

Rich creamy daal with cinnamon and methi leaves that can be made even richer with cream.

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups of whole urad daal
  • 1/2 cup of red kidney beans
  • 1 tbsp blended garlic (frozen or fresh)
  • 1 tsp of Kashmiri red chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1-2 tsp of salt
  • Other ingredients
  • fresh coriander
  • cream (35%) optional

Tarka / Vagar / Tempering

  • 2-3 Tbsp of ghee
  • 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil or other oil
  • 1 tbsp of cumin seed
  • 2-3 small pieces of cinnamon stick
  • 2-3 Indian bay leaves
  • 1 large onion or 2 small onions finely chopped (use a food processor)
  • 1 inch of ginger, finely chopped. About 1 and 1/2 tbsp
  • 1 medium tomato finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Kasuri methi leaves
  • 1/2 tsp of ginger paste
  • 1 tsp of coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 heaping tsp of garam masala
  • 2 green chilis finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder or sweet paprika (for colour)

Method

  1. Wash the lentils and beans. Then soak overnight in 10 cups of water.
  2. Cook urad daal and rajma with garlic, salt, oil and kashmiri powder and 10 cups of water in pressure cooker or instant pot for 1 whistle, or roughly 20 min. Let cool.
  3. After steam has fully released, open pot and then turn it to saute for 30-40 min so that daal continues to cook and thicken.
  4. Meanwhile, make the tarka
  5. Take your mix of ghee and oil and heat on medium heat.
  6. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, and bay leaves and stir
  7. quickly add onions so spices do not burn. Saute for 2-3 minutes
  8. Add ginger and saute
  9. Add tomatoes, kasoori methi leaves, and cook for a bit
  10. add coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, chopped green chilis, salt, and kashmiri or paprika. And add a bit of water to make sure spices don't stick.
  11. Cook tarka for several minutes on a low-medium heat. Onions should be well cooked and golden.
  12. When oil separates, then add tarka to the daal and continue to saute. Mix for a minute. Before serving, stir in the fresh coriander.
  13. You can optionally add cream on top and/or additional ghee

Notes

  • Serve with rice, naan, or roti.