Preparationtime-20minutes
Cookingtime-30minutes
Servings-4
Carrying its roots from Peshawar, this Punjabi dish is a rich gravy made with black urad dal and kidney beans with a generous addition of butter and cream. Dal means lentils and makhani means rich in butter, which highlights the main ingredients of the dish. This restaurant-style dish is said to be a vegetarian equivalent to the creamy butter chicken from the same Persian origin. The rich, aromatic and flavourful Dal Makhani goes well with plain jeera rice, roti and naan.
One may think that cooking dal makhani at home will not bring its rich taste as in restaurants. But little do they know, when perfectly made following a step-by-step recipe, making dal makhani at home is a cakewalk. Slow cooking is the ultimate secret of a perfect Dal makhani. As the gravy boils and thickens for a longer time, the taste becomes strong and finger-licking. In some versions, the dish is induced with a smoky flavour by placing a piece of burning charcoal in the gravy for a few minutes. The lavish use of butter and cream prolongs the shelf life of the dish, making it richer each time it is heated.
Let’s proceed with the restaurant-style recipe for this royal dish.
INGREDIENTS
Cooking directions:
- Soak the black urad dal and red kidney beans in water for around 8 hours, preferably overnight. The next morning, drain the water, add fresh water (almost thrice the dal quantity), salt and asafoetida and cook the same in a Krono pressure cooker for 10 to 12 whistles. Track your cooker’s whistles by observing the automatic whistle counter of Krono. The more the whistles, the softer the dal becomes. After cooking, mash the dal and beans, and keep it aside.
- In a blender, take 6 to 8 ripe tomatoes, blend to a smooth paste without adding water and keep it aside. If using store-bought tomato puree, use 400 ml straight away.
- In a wide-mouthed pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter and add the mashed dal. To it, add the tomato puree and bring it to a boil.
- Boil the gravy continuously on medium flame and keep stirring to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Stir the gravy carefully as it will heavily splutter due to the high heat of the thick gravy.
- When the gravy thickens further, add the unsalted butter and mix. As the butter melts, add a heaped spoon of ginger garlic paste and mix.
- Then add a full heaped spoon of Kashmiri chilli powder. This will enhance the vibrant colour of the Dal Makhani and offer a mild spiciness enough for the dish. Do not use normal chilli powder.
- Stir the gravy often. It tends to boil and splatter heavily, so extra caution has to be taken while stirring. Do not add any extra water as it will take longer to thicken. The gravy takes around 20 minutes to perfectly thicken to a smooth creamy consistency.
- Finally, add fresh cream to the gravy and boil it for 10 minutes. Adjust the taste by adding salt if required. Switch off the stove and let it sit for some time before consuming.
- Enjoy and savour the rich taste of the aromatic Dal Makhani with plain rotis, naan or jeera rice.