Dal Makhani

• Servings: 4
• Soaking time: 6 hours.
• Preparation time: 5 minutes.
• Boiling time: 50 minutes
• Frying time: 12 minutes.
• Cooking time: 10 minutes.
• Tadka time: 2 minutes
• Total time: 79 minutes.

Dal Makhani is the king of all dal; the luscious, creamy and aromatic melts in mouth. Here I bring authentic and exotic recipe from land of Punjab; authentically whole black lentil cooked with loads of fresh milk cream and spices. You can use ‘Amul’ cream or butter instead of fresh milk cream.  It can be served with Baigan ka bharta (egg plant mashed), Boondi raita and phulka.

Soaking dal and slow cooking is key- point to bring authenticity.

Ingredients:

• Saboot urad (Whole urad or black beans): 250 gm.
• Onion: 1 no. (Medium)
• Tomato: 2 no. (Medium)
• Red chilli powder: 2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder: half teaspoon
• Ginger: 2 teaspoon (paste)
• Garlic: 1 teaspoon (paste)
• Cumin seed: 2 teaspoon
• Black cardamom: 1 no.
• Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
• Bay leaf: 2 no.
• Salt: 2 teaspoon
• Cooking oil: 1 tea spoon
• Butter: 100 gram
• Garam masala powder: half teaspoon
• Whipped cream: 2 tablespoon
• Green coriander: 1 table spoon

Preparation:

1. Soak black beans overnight.
2. Grind tomato, black cardamom, cinnamon, onion all together to make a fine paste with help of water if required.

Method:

1. Boil soaked black beans with salt, 1 teaspoon of ginger paste, 20 gram of butter and water in a pressure cooker on high flame.
2. Bring to full cooking pressure, reduce to low flame and cook for 45 minutes.
3. Allow cooker to cool and open.
4. Take fry pan heat oil in it and add 20 gram of butter. When it smokes, put 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, and bay leaf.
5. Add ground onion and all paste (tomato mix paste and left out garlic and ginger paste)
6. Fry about 5 minutes. (Keep it stirring otherwise it may burn)
7. Add 20 gram of butter and fry it till oil separates from the masala.
8. Add 1 teaspoon of red chilly powder and stir it for 2 minutes.
9. Add boiled urad in it and add water to your requirement
10. Add 20 gram of butter again, Lower the flame.
11. Boil it about 10 minutes (Slow cooking brings taste)

Note:(Stir it about 4-5 times to prevent dal from setting into the pan bottom.)

1. Add 1 table spoon of Whipped cream, and boil again.
2. Add 2 tablespoon of coriander leaves.
3.  Put off the flame.

Tadaka:

1. Take a fry pan, put remaining butter in it. Put cumin seed, when it crackle put off the stove.
2. Add chilli powder and pour on the dal, and cover the lid. Now, dal Makhani is ready to serve.
3.   You can serve it with some more whipped cream.        

Dal Makhani by Nag Ratna Sahu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.