Description
Flavorful and creamy, Dal Makhani is a classic Indian dish featuring black lentils in a rich tomato and spice-infused sauce. Pure comfort in every bite!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Boiled Urad Dal
- 225g (1 1/4 cups) whole black lentils / urad dal
- 1.25l (5 cups) water
- 2.5cm (1 inch) fresh root ginger, finely chopped
Dal Makhani
- 30ml (2 tbsp) ghee
- 200g (7 oz) brown onion paste
- 12 garlic cloves, pureed
- 2.5cm (1 inch) fresh root ginger, finely chopped
- 10ml (2 tsp) paprika
- 5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander
- 5ml (1 tsp) ground cumin
- 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) chili powder
- 5ml (1 tsp) tomato puree
- 200g (7 oz) tinned tomatoes, pureed
- 45ml (3 tbsp) garam masala
- 150ml (5 fl oz) single cream
- 150g (5 fl oz) unsalted butter
- 10ml (2 tsp) rock salt
Garnish
- Coriander leaves, chopped
- Double / heavy cream
- Fresh ginger, julienned
- Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), crumbled
- green chilies, finely sliced
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- For the Boiled Urad Dhal: Soak the lentils in plenty of water for at least 12 hours. Drain and rinse well.
- To cook the lentils, bring the measured water to the boil in a 2.5 litre (4½ pint) saucepan. Add the lentils and half the ginger. When it returns to the boil, stir to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Boil for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer for a further 1 hour or so, stirring from time to time. By this time, the lentils should have absorbed all the water and be soft, not al dente.
- For the Dal Makhani: Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Heat the ghee in a 2.5 litre (4½ pint) ovenproof casserole dish.
- Add the brown onion paste, garlic and ginger. Fry it for a few minutes, while stirring constantly.
- Add the paprika, coriander, cumin and chilli powder. Stir fry for another 3 minutes or until the spices’ aromas get released - you will smell it.
- Mix in the lentils.
- Add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and garam masala to the lentils. Cook for a further 15 minutes, adding a cupful or two of water as needed so as to retain a pouring consistency.
- Cover the casserole with a lid and transfer it to the preheated oven. Cook for at least 3 hours. Check the consistency of the mixture every 40 minutes or so – adding water to maintain the pouring consistency.
- On your last check, add the cream, butter and salt and give it a final 20 or so minutes cooking in the oven with the oven switched off.
- Garnish with any of the ingredients mentioned above. Serve with plain or jeera rice, naan, roti, paratha, cucumber salad, raita, pickles or chutney. Enjoy!
Notes
- Traditionally, a mixture of black lentils, red kidney beans and yellow split peas should be used in a ratio of 4:1:1. For simplicity I only used urad dal in the recipe but there’s nothing stopping you from using different pulses of your choosing and playing with the ratios.
- Since this dish is cooked long and slow, it’s the perfect recipe for a slow cooker.
- This isn’t the quickest recipe to prepare and is essentially a labor of love because it tastes just so damn good. To get the biggest bang for your buck, double up on the ingredients. Heck, I used 1.5kg of dried urad dal, which means I multiplied the ingredients by 6! Just make sure you have a big enough pot to cook it in.
- Of course, when you end up with such a big batch of this awesome dish, you need to store it. It freezes superbly! So split it up into batches and enjoy if and when it strikes your fancy.
- If you don’t have ghee, use butter.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours and 30 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 242
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 409.7 mg
- Fat: 16.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 46.1 mg