Today, no silly talks or sharing my shower thoughts! Let’s get straight to talking about Dal Makhani.
Dal Makhani is one of the most famous Indian dish and as the name suggests (Makhani) it is creamy, buttery and rich of spices.
Since I found my love for cooking I would have tried at least four different recipes but none of them brought out the creaminess of urad dal. Sure the end result was creamy, but that was because of the addition of cream itself. How could I bring out the creaminess of urad dal without making the dal tasting starchy?
After good three hours of exploring all possible recipes of Dal Makhani I have my answer – channa dal! And it worked! I have not used a single drop of cream in this recipe and yet is it super creamy and just melts in my mouth. Food heaven!
Apart from channa dal, there is another secret to this recipe – do not rush it! It takes almost two hours to get this dish together, be patient. Play some music is background! No tv though, you need to be attentive as well! Sorry!
Happy Cooking!
Dal Makhani
Ingredients
For Base
- 1/2 cup whole urad dal
- 1/4 cup kidney beans
- 1/8 cup channa dal
- 4 cups water for cooking
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 inch ginger jullienne cut
- 1 green chilli jullienne cut
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 black cardamom
- 4 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- salt as per taste
For Dal Masala
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 3 tsp coriander cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp amchur powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/8 tsp garam masala
For Tempering
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 small onion pureed
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- salt as per taste
Instructions
For Base
- Soak urad dal and kidney beans together for at least 8 hours. Separately soak channa dal also for at least 8 hours.
- Pressure cook channa dal with 1 cup of water on medium heat for 12 minutes if using instant pot or 5 whistles if using pressure cooker. Let the pressure cooker cool down and depressurized naturally.
- Mash the cooked channa dal completely and add whole spices (bay leaf, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick) along with 1 tsp salt.
- Add soak urad dal and kidney beans to the channa dal mixture; add 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 20 minutes or 10 whistles if using pressure cooker. Let the pressure cooker cool down and depressurized naturally.
- Take 1/4 cup of cooked dal in a grinder, add some ice and grind it until it is completely smooth.
- Add the grind dal back in pressure cooker/instant pot container; add julienne cut ginger and green chillies and 1 cup of water. Cover with a lid and cook on low flame for 20 to 25 minutes; stir the dal mix everything 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes on low flame. At the end your cooked dal will reduced to 2/3 of it's original quantity.
- Turn off of the flame and let the dal cool down; this will help the dal to get more thicker.
For Dal Masala
- Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl and keep it aside.
For Tempering
- In a large pot heat the ghee on a medium heat.
- Add pureed onions and cook until they are brownish and ghee starts separating; for 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add tomato sauce along with 1/2 tsp of salt and cook for 5 minutes.
- Next, add the dal masala and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of water along with whole milk. Once the mix comes to boil add the cooked dal and stir until everything is mixed.
- Cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes or until it reached your desired consistency. Adjust salt as per your taste.
- Before turning off the flame stir in kasuri methi. You can also add some butter or cream to the dal for more richness.
- Serve warm with naan or rice.
