Dal Makhani Recipe

Dal Makhani is a vegetarian lentil recipe. I am sharing an Indian restaurant-style makhani dal recipe with a perfectly creamy buttery texture.

Story Of Dal Makhani

Over the years, Dal Makhani has become an inseparable part of modern Indian Cuisine. Outside India, it is considered the flag bearer of rich and indulgent vegetarian Indian food.

While researching for my debut cookbook, The 100 Best Curries, I learnt that the dal makhani recipe existed during the British Raj era.

The renowned chef of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi wanted to create a vegetarian counterpart to the already famous butter chicken or murgh makhani. Hence, he developed a creamy, rich, indulgent makhani dal for vegetarians.

Honestly, there are no remarkable imprints of Dal Makhani in my food memoirs of childhood. In our Kumaoni household, it was considered a fancy, restaurant-style Punjabi dish that nobody in my family knew how to make.

Then marriage to the Sikh family presented a new perspective on Punjabi dishes like chana masala, makhani dal, missa paratha, chitt, and rajma chawal.

My Dal Makhani Recipe

When I say restaurant style, I mean a melt-in-mouth, mildly spicy, slow-cooked makhani dal with a tempting aroma of spices.

This is NOT a family heirloom recipe. I have worked over the years to get the dal makhani’s perfect taste and texture. Hence, I can confidently say that this is a tried and tested restaurant-style dal makhani recipe.

Let me clarify, makhani dal is not a 30-minute meal. Traditionally, it is slow-cooked for a few hours or overnight. Therefore, I make it only over the weekends. It is a kind of leisure meal in our house. That requires time both to cook and relish.

Which dal is used in Dal Makhani?

The black lentil (sabut urad or the kaali urad) is used in dal makhani. It is combined with rajma (red kidney beans) and chana dal (Bengal gram or dried split chickpeas).

I would not recommend using only black urad. Each lentil adds to the makhani dal’s taste, texture, and consistency.

Usually, the ideal proportion of these three lentils in a perfect makhani dal is  1:¼:1/4, i.e. 1 Cup of black urad dal and ¼ Cup of each rajma and chana dal.

Other Ingredients Required

• Cooking Oil: I use ghee to cook makhani dal and add butter while serving. You can use butter or flavourless refined vegetable oil for cooking the dal.
• Onion is the holy grail of this dal recipe.
• Tomato: Use either freshly chopped ripe tomato or canned crushed tomato.
• Tomato Paste: It gives a sweet taste to the dal. Substitute tomato paste with sweet tomato ketchup in equal quantities.
• Whole Spices: Bay Leaf (tej patta), Cloves (laung), Black Cardamom (elaichi), Cumin (jeera), Dried Fenugreek Leaves
• Spice Powder: Turmeric Powder, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Asafoetida (hing)
• Cream: Use light cooking cream with around 25% fat, not heavy or whipping cream. You can substitute cream with full-fat milk, also.
• Herbs & Seasoning: Green Chilli, Ginger, Fresh Coriander, Ginger & Garlic Paste, Salt
• Garnish: Fresh Coriander, Cream or Butter, Ginger Juliennes

How To Make

Step 1) Combine all three lentils in a bowl. Rinse them with water 2 – 3 times or until water runs clear. Soak them in clean water for 5 – 6 hours or overnight.

Step 2) After soaking, pressure cook the lentils. Transfer soaked lentils to a pressure cooker. Add salt, cardamom, bay leaf, cloves, asafoetida, and water. Stir to combine. Pressure Cook lentils over low for 5 – 6 whistles. We want them to break down completely.

Step 3) Now, let’s make tadka for dal. Heat ghee in a kadhai or heavy-duty casserole. Add cumin, and saute for 10 – 20 seconds. Add finely chopped onion and fry till onion turn light golden.

Step 4) Once the onion is nicely fried, add ginger and garlic paste, chopped tomato, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, and coriander powder. Fry for 5 – 6 minutes over low heat. The oil should start separating from the masala, and the tomatoes break down completely.

Step 5) Add tomato paste or ketchup and pressure-cooked dal. Stir to combine. At this stage, if you feel the dal is way too thick, get desired consistency by adding water, as after simmering, it tends to become thicker.

Step 6) Add cream, Garam Masala powder, kasuri methi, sliced green chillies, julienned ginger, and fresh coriander. Mix nicely. Taste, and if required, add more salt and seasoning.

Step 7) Now allow the dal to simmer over low heat, stirring at regular intervals for 10 – 15 minutes. This step gives a deep, slow-cooked-like flavour to the dal.

Garnish dal with cream, chopped coriander leaves, and ginger julienned. Dal Makhani is ready to serve.

Serving Suggestion

Dal Makhani is an Indian main course dish. Serve it with Indian side dishes like naan, paratha, tandoori roti, and chapati. Dal Makhani tastes delicious with rice dishes like jeera rice or matar pulao. You can serve it with plain basmati rice also.

I like to serve makhani dal in my Indian thali with chilled boondi raita, kachumber salad, tandoori roti, and extra homemade white butter on the side.

Storage Suggestion

Dal Makhani is a meal prep-friendly main course dish. After cooking, let it cool down completely and then transfer to airtight containers. Store for 6 to 7 days in the refrigerator.

It is best to reheat makhani dal in a pan. It becomes thick after a few hours or days of cooking. Hence, adding water, milk, or cream while reheating the dal is best for the desired consistency.

My Tried and True Tips

You cannot make a good makhani dal without soaking the lentils. Soaking them in water increases their size, they break down easily while cooking, and absorb the flavour of the masala nicely.

The flavour of dal makhani is the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, warm, and earthy. Hence, do not add too much chilli powder, green chillies, or Garam Masala.

It is a BIG MYTH that too much butter, cream, and ghee will give you the best makhani dal. The slow simmering process gives the creamy, luscious texture and not the overload of dairy.

If you are after that restaurant-style taste, do not skip adding TOMATO PASTE and Kasuri Methi. These two are game-changing ingredients.

If you like smokey/tandoori-style flavour, keep a small stainless steel bowl in the centre of the dal. Add hot live pieces of coal to the small bowl. Immediately drizzle hot ghee over the coal pieces to create smoke. Cover the dal bowl with a lid. Let the smoke engulf the entire bowl for 5 – 6 minutes. Open the lid, remove the bowl with the coal, stir the dal and serve.

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