Shahi Urad Dal Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Shahi Dal, as the name advocates, is an aromatic, and rich Mughlai style urad dal recipe with a delicious creaminess.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

soaking time4

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: adults

Calories: 265kcal

To make Shahi Dal, first clean, wash and soak the urad dal in enough water for 5 hours or overnight.
Next morning you will notice the black husk of dal starts leaving the white skin underneath. Rub the dal in small batches in between your palms to remove the black peel. Rinse again and you will end up with majorly white skinned dal with few black peel here and there.
Combine the dal, cardamom pods, cloves, chopped tomato, ginger, garlic, green chilli, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, and water in a pressure cooker. Mix well to combine.
Pressure cook for 4 whistles over low heat or till urad dal gets cooked. Allow the steam of pressure cooker to escape naturally before opening the lid. Gently whisk the dal with the spoon to thicken it. It should have a thick, creamy consistency.

Heat ghee in a deep pan and add the sliced almonds. Fry them till light golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add the onions, and fry on a medium flame till onion turns light brown. Towards the end add cumin seeds and garam masala. Cook for few seconds. Turn off the heat.
Heat dal before serving. Taste and if required add more salt or spices. Pour the sizzling tadka over dal.
Garnish Shahi Urad Dal with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve Shahi Urad Dal warm with jeera rice or chapati.

You can make this dal in an electric pressure cooker, multi-pot, or instant pot. In electric pressure cooker, it takes 15 minutes to cook fully.
If after pressure cooking, the dal seems too thick, add more water/full fat milk/cooking cream to get the desired consistency and creaminess.
Urad dal or the split urad dal needs to be soaked for at least 4 – 5 hours in water. This reduces the cooking time.