Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani is one of the Punjab’s most popular dishes. Traditionally this Dal is a combination of whole urad and Rajma (red kidney beans) and cooked on low flame on charcoal, for hours which gives it flavor and rich creamy texture.

After cooking to enhance the flavor of dal onion, garlic, tomato, ginger and green chili tadka and cream or butter are often added. It is served with tandoori roti, chapatti or Nan. Dal Makhani is popular all over the world because of its richness in taste and nutrition.

Ingredients for Dal:

1   Cup whole Black Urad dal (black grams)
¼   Cup  kidney beans (rajama)-optional
½   Teaspoon Turmeric powder
1 Teaspoon salt or to your taste
1 Teaspoon oil
½ Cup cream or Substitute with whole milk
6 Cups of water

Ingredients for onion tadka:

1   Medium size onion – finely chopped
1   Teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
1 Medium size ripe tomato- chopped
1 Medium green chili - chopped
1   Tablespoon fresh ginger grated or fine chopped
1   Tablespoon vegetable oil

Ingredients for Cumin seed tadka:

1   Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1   Pinch of asafetida (Hing)
1   Tablespoon vegetable oil

Ingredients for Hot chili tadka:

½ Teaspoon crushed red chilies or red chili powder
2 Tablespoons melted butter or Ghee

Serving for 4

Cooking measurement conversion
Measurement converter

Whole black urad Dal (Black grams)

Rajma (Red Kidney beans)

Turmeric powder

Cream or Milk

Salt

Water

Oil

Ingredients for onion tadka:

Onion-chopped

Ginger-grated

Tomato-chopped

Green chili-chopped

Garlic-minced

Oil

Ingredients for Cumin seed tadka:

Cumin seeds

Hing (Asafetida)

Oil (Butter or Ghee)

Ingredients for Hot chili tadka:

Red chili powder

Butter-melted or Ghee

Direction for cooking Dal:

1. Look through the kidney beans before soaking and remove any shriveled,
damaged, or broken pieces. Then place the kidney beans in a large bowl.
Make sure the bowl is big enough to account for the kidney beans expanding
during soaking.

2. Wash and soak kidney beans in a bowl and soak separate from Whole Urad
   Dal. Add enough water to cover the kidney beans by a few inches. Cover the
   bowl and leave the bowl on the counter and soak for at least 6 hours or
   overnight. The beans will swell up in size as they soak, so be sure to use a
bowl that's big enough.

3. It is important to soak kidney Beans for long time otherwise it takes long time,
to cook. If you did not preplan to make Dal you can also use powder soaking
   method. power soaking method.

4. Add Dal in a separate bowl and soak for 2 or 3 hours. But if you are cooking
without pressure cooker then soak Dal overnight or longer time, otherwise it
   will take long time to cook Rajma and Whole urad Dal.

Wash and rinse Dal

Wash and rinse Rajma

Soak whole urad Dal in water

Soak Rajma in water

Whole Black urad are soaked

Rajama is soaked

5. Once Dal and beans are soaked, drain the soaking water and wash and rinse
the Dal and beans.

Wash and rinse - soaked Dal

Wash and rinse soaked Rajma

Soaked whole Urad Dal

Soaked Rajma

6. In a pressure cooker add soaked Whole urad Dal and soaked Rajma.

Add soaked Uad and Rajma beans in a Pressuer cooker

7. Add 6 cups of water, turmeric powder, salt and 1 teaspoon of oil and mix.
When dal is boiling it creates lot of foam and the foam comes out from
pressure cooker to prevent that it is a good idea to add little oil.

Add water

Add turmeric powder

Add salt

Mix turmeric powder and salt

Add oil

8. Close the lid of the pressure cooker, place the weight on the lid and cook on
medium high heat.

Close the pressure cooker

9. In about 8 to 10 minutes pressure cooker will start steaming, turn the heat
  down to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the stove off and wait
  until steam goes down. Different brand of cooker requires different time to
   cook.

10. While dal is cooking prepare onion and cumin seed tadka and keep them
     aside. (see below for tadka directions)

11. Once the steam of cooker goes down open the cooker, turn the stove on to
    medium heat.

Open the pressure cooker

12. With the cooking spoon mix dal well so there are no lumps and cook.

With a spoon mix Dal

13. Check if Dal is cooked.

Check if Dal & Rajma become tender

14. With the spoon mash some Dal that will make the gravy thicker and blend
well with the water.

With a spoon mash some Dal

Let the Dal cook

15. Add onion and Tomato tadka and mix and cook. If the dal looks thick then
add some water and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until dal and masala blend well.

Add onion masala

Mix onion tadka well with Dal

Onion tadka is blended well

16. Add cumin seed tadka and mix and cook for a minute or until you have the
desired consistency. Turn the stove off.

Add cumin seed tadka and mix

Dal is cooked

17. If not serving the Dal immediately and the Dal looks watery then do not cook
for too long because dal tends to get thick quickly.

18. When ready to serve heat Dal and transfer into serving bowl and add hot chili
tadka.

Dal Makhani

19. If you like add ½ cup of cream to the dal. When ready to serve heat the dal,
  in the end add cream, heat for about 2 minutes, turn the heat off, make sure
  that you do not over heat the cream, overheating spoil the cream, the cream
change to ghee and alter the taste of the dal This is the reason why the cream
is added at the end when is ready to be served.

20.  When ready to serve, transfer dal in a serving bowl and pour hot chili tadka
over the dal. (See below for chili tadka)

Add cream in Dal

Mix cream well

Dal Makhani

Tips:

1. Cook dal in pressure cooker other wise it takes too long to cook dal.

2. Urad dal generally takes long time to soak most of the time we do not preplan to make the dal and have much time to soak it, but do not get discourage it just take little longer to cook dal, or use power soaking method.

3. If you wish you can skip onion tadka or any other tadka and alter Dal to your
taste.

Directions for onion tadka: (tadka)

1. Heat a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, chopped onions and
    minced garlic and sauté them on medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes or until
    onions become light brown, while frequently stirring them. (Instead of oil you
   can use butter or Ghee)

In a pan add oil, onions & garlic

Sauté onion and garlic

2. Add chopped Tomatoes, chopped green chilies and grated ginger and mix with
fried onions and cook.

Onions become light brown

Add chopped tomatoes

Add green chilies & grated ginger

Mix all the ingredients

3. With the spatula try to mash the tomatoes so that they become soft quickly,
in 5 to 6 minutes tomatoes will become soft and blend with onions. Turn the
stove off.

With spatula mash Tomatoes

Onion tadka is ready

Directions for cumin seed tadka: (tadka)

1.   In a small pan (tadka pan) add 1 tablespoon oil, cumin seeds and asafetida
  and fry them for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat or until cumin seeds become
   brown.

In a pan add oil

Add Hing (asafetida )

Add cumin seeds

Cumin seeds are fried

Direction for hot chili tadka: (Hot oil) (tadka)

1. In a small pan (tadka pan) heat 2 tablespoons ghee or melted butter add
crushed red chilies or red chili powder and fry them on very low heat for
1 to 2 minutes or until the red chilies fried, turn the heat off.

In a pan add Butter or Ghee

Add chili powder or crushed chilies & fry

Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.

Thank you

Geeta Seth

Other recipes:

Black urad dal and rice khichdi              Rajma(Red kidney beans)

Mahrani dal                                             White urad dal & chana dal mix

Split black urad dal                               Toor dal (Arhar dal or masala tadka dal)

White Urad Dal                                     Masoor dal (Malka dal)

Chappati (Pulkha or roti)                     Lachha roti (Spiral layered roti)

Paratdar roti                                          Boiled white rice
(Layered roti)