Whenever we go out to eat or order in Indian food the first choice my husband always make is Dal Makhni, I sometimes get really irritated by his habit but he can’t help he is totally in love with it after all it is a Dal like no other, Creamy texture , Full of aroma and every bite very satisfying!
Given his eternal love affair with Dal makhni, we have sampled dal makhni of all the countries and cities we have been to and can give a real good guidance to anyone where NOT to eat it!
As it is rightly said;
“Way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”
Here is my version of Dal Makhni , Dal means Lentil and Makhni means buttery, so the name gives away whats in store which I made to woe my husband (Not that I need to 😉 )
It looks like a very elaborate preparation, given the time it takes in cooking as it is a slow cooking process, but trust me once you understand the recipe it is simple and every second of that slow cooking process makes it worth the taste!
So Lets start; This recipe will serve 3-4 people
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients & spices
- Black Whole Urad Dal (Black Gram) – 2 cups Soaked overnight
- Rajma (Kidney Beans) – Half cup Soaked overnight
- Bay leaf – 1
- Green Cardamom – 2-3
- Black Cardamom – 1
- Cumin Seeds – Half teaspoon
- Red chili powder half teaspoon
- Kasuri Methi – Little less than half teaspoon
- Cinnamon Stick – 1
- Salt- As per taste
vegetables
- Tomatoes – 2 Medium – Pureed
- Onion – 1 – Pureed
- Garlic – 2-3 Cloves – Paste
- Ginger Small Paste
- Green Chili – 1 – Paste
Dairy-
- Butter – Half Stick (of 250 gm pack)
- oil 1- 2 Spoon
- Cream – half cup
Method
- Soak Black gram and Kidney beans overnight
- Pressure cook Black gram and kidney beans with salt, 20-25 min should be ok. check if not done can leave it for a little longer
- While the Dal is cooking, heat a pan and put in oil and half of the butter
- Put Jeera, cinnamon stick , Bay leaf , Black and green cardamom and let them release aroma for 2-3 minutes cooking on a simmer
- Add kasuri methi and add-on ginger, garlic and chili paste and let it cook for a minute
- Add red chili powder along with 2-3 spoon of water and then add in your onion paste and let it cook for 3-5 min
- Add in tomato puree and let it cook on simmer, you will know it done when it looks like a good gravy consistency and it will ooze out butter and stop sticking to pan.
- Add in your cooked Dal and kidney beans to the pan and give it a good mix, add in a cup of water if needed and let it simmer covered for as long as you can (More slowly and longer its cooked the more tasty it gets) Keep a check while slow cooking and make sure it doesn’t stick to pan, add in enough water so it doesn’t dry out.
- Normally I would cook it for 45 min to an hour on slow
- Then check on consistency (It should not be watery at all)
- Once satisfied with consistency (Check picture for reference) Add in cream and give it a good stir.
- Let is cook for another 2 minutes, mix in remaining butter and take it out in a serving bowl (Remove bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and cardamom’s before serving if possible)
- Serve hot with chapati’s Naan (Any kind of flat bread) Or rice
Crunch'n'Spice 