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Dal Makhani

By DK on Feb 25, 2011

From the Archives: In the quest of clearing out my pantry, I came across a bag of whole black lentils. Commonly referred to as "Urad dal" in Hindi, these beauties are more famously used in making this dish called as Dal Makhani. I made these again recently to use the bag up among quite a few other dishes. I had to update this post with few notes on making it a Low Calorie Treat. Its very easy and this is one of those dishes which are immensely forgiving when it comes to making it literally fat free. The new pictures that I have added to this post are of this "Low Calorie" version. Can you tell the difference?:)

Also known as "Kaali Dal", "Maa Di Dal" or simply "Maa Ki Dal" - Dal Makhani by any other name would taste just as yummy and delicious. This Punjabi delicacy is another feather to Indian cuisine. Rich, creamy lentils cooked with assorted spices makes it one of the best warm and soul foods ever! Dal (lentil) Makhani (cream/butter) as the name insists is filled with calories and is a special treat. There are few variations and I have tried them all. I have finally settled down to this recipe. The secret to best Dal makhani is the number of hours one cooks the lentils.

Traditionally, the Dals are simmered overnight in Tandoor which enhances the taste. Otherwise, I find that soaking the lentils a little longer than norm also does the same. No scientific explanation - just experience. I usually soak it say evening when I need to make this dish for next day's lunch. Otherwise you can use slow cooker if you have one.! A low calorie version is very easy. Replace Butter with oil and cream with 2% milk. Cooking it for a long time, makes it rich tasting and creamier without the cream and butter. Try it, you wont miss the high calorie version.

Basic Information

Prep Time: 8 hours to 1 day

Cook Time: Under 30 min

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

1 cup whole black lentils ( whole black Urad dal )
1/4 cup Bengal gram
1/2 cup Kidney beans
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 tsp green chillies, sliced thinly
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 medium red onion
1 tsp dried Fenugreek leaves ( Kasuri Methi )
3 tbsp butter (or 1-2 tsp of vegetable oil)
2-3 cloves
2" cinnamon stick
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup cream ( or 2% milk or use Coconut milk to make it Vegan (thanks for the tip Kniffel)
salt to taste and cilantro to garnish

Tips

Notes:1. While using store bought tomato puree, make sure its the low sodium variety. Or if not available, add salt towards the end accordingly. Also the store bought varieties tend to leave a sharp taste in the mouth. Add it diluted if too strong. 2. Instead of adding whole spices while cooking, you can make a spice bag and add it while cooking the lentils. Pack cloves,cinnamon stick and cardamom pods along with bay leaf in a cheesecloth and drop it in the cooking water of lentils. Pressure cook and remove this bag after its cooked.

Method

Soak the lentils and kidney beans overnight.

Rinse them well in cold water.

Cook them in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. It alright to cook longer cos its hard to spoil this dish. The long cooking also enhances the flavor for this dish.

Cook until cooked, almost mushy.

Take a potato masher/ladle and mash the lentils well.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, add butter (or 1 tsp oil) along with cloves, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, cumin-coriander powder,bay leaf, ginger-garlic paste, chillies and onions. Saute until aromatic and onions gets soft.

Add the Tomato puree, close the lid (unless you love being covered with tomato puree ;-)) and cook for 5 min until the raw tomato smell leaves.

Now add the lentil mixture,

reduce the heat to simmer, add salt close the lid and slow cook for 15-20 min.

Stir occasionally to avoid the lentils from sticking to the bottom.

Add the fenugreek leaves along with cardamom powder, stir and then add the cream ( or 2% milk/fat free milk).

Cook for 5 more minutes and serve hot garnished with Naan/ Roti garnished with cilantro. Maa Di Dal | Maa ki Dal

I usually pair it with Roti/ Phulkas, few sliced onions and bowl of fresh curd. It makes a hearty and protein rich meal. Maa Di Dal | Maa ki Dal

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82 Responses to “Dal Makhani”

Pree

May 1st, 2013 on 6:22 am
Hi,
Your recipes are so easy to follow and the food is yum. I want to try out the
Dal makhni recipe but I only have split black urid dal and tinned kidney beans.
Will I be able to make this dish with the above mentioned ingredients?
Your response will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
vansri

April 19th, 2013 on 5:03 am
Hi, I wanted to know if I have added the raw garam masala while pressure cooking the Dal do I need to add again when I m making masala.
sona

March 14th, 2013 on 6:57 am
hi,
what does2%milk mean….sorry for this silly question
Matthias Weiss

January 20th, 2013 on 5:27 pm
This may not be the Indian way, but when I cooked my lentils for about 6 hours in a crock pot, I added two beef marrow bones to the water…and cut a little on the cream. Makes for one nutritionally packed bowl of food!
Kurt

January 20th, 2013 on 5:12 pm
Hello DK , I have been reading over your recipe and it sounds great , this will be my first attempt at cooking it . One question though . Should I put a lid on the pan while I am slow cooking ? I don’t have a pressure cooker. Thank you for your time.
Lauren

January 15th, 2013 on 4:43 pm
Hi, can’t wait to try this…..but Bengal gram is listed in the ingredients….and not in the description?

Bengal gram is also a lentil and when I say lentils in step 1, I include that too along with the rest. The pictures will also show you that. –DK
natalie oretsky-cohen

January 15th, 2013 on 8:06 am
I am an ESL Instructore living by choice in a neighborhood full of immigrants from all over the world. My favorite food is Indian and I greatly enjoy eating in local Jackson Heights restaurants and also the odors coming from surrounding kitchens. I have in the past cooked delicious recipes. This year I was motivated to try Dal Makhani from your very enticing though complicated (for me) list of ingredients. It was delicious and I impressed my daughter Nicole, who is somewhat of a “Foodie.” I made some adjustment for example using the liquid from yogurt instead of cream or milk. I am doing the whole thing again having soaked my beautiful beans last night. Looking forwards to the smells and taste!
Lisa

January 4th, 2013 on 1:31 pm
Fabulous recipe! Have made this several times & it is as close as ordering it at our local Indian restaurant. Thank You for sharing!
vandana

December 25th, 2012 on 12:01 pm
thank u for every suggestion
vandana

December 25th, 2012 on 12:00 pm
thank u for every suggestion,
george

December 24th, 2012 on 8:32 pm
hello, re whistles:
I often read on indian food recipes the time given in whistles.
so given the above, as a general rule can I estimate that one whistle is about three and half minutes?
regards and thanks
george

I am going to be extremely approximate and I am going to assume that the pressure cooker is on high heat (and is a large pressure cooker). Based on this the first whistle takes the longest time – I wud time this somewhere on the lines of 5-7 minutes.The next whistles would be in the space of about 3 minutes each. Hope this helps (Hopefully I remember to time mine the next time around for a more precise answer) –DK
Sana

December 19th, 2012 on 1:09 pm
Hello Chef, decided to boil the daals without the pressure cooker and was pleasantly surprised that it only took about 3 hours of boiling to get it to a soft consistency. I had also soaked the mixture overnight. Cooking now and it looks like the pictures, fingers crossed.

Hi Sana, call me DK . As for slow cooking, I personally think that makes the dish even more enticing cos it develops more flavors than pressure cooking. But lack of time and effort, gets my vote as far as Pressure cooking goes. I think in top class restaurants, they usually cook this dal overnight in a Tandoor on low flame. –DK
Sana

December 17th, 2012 on 8:16 pm
Hi Chef, I don’t have a pressure cooker and don’t like to use them (saw one explode when I was very young). Is it possible to make this without one? Do you have any tips on boiling the daal/beans? Appreciate Your advice.
george whitfield

December 5th, 2012 on 6:03 am
you say cook in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles, but how long is a whistle????!!!
I never understand this,
I think my pressure cooker doesn’t whistle anyway
please put the time in minutes
regards and thanks
george

Sorry about that. I had started adding the minutes for recent posts of mine but missed this one. This will be about 10-15 minutes –DK
Geetha Santhosh

November 28th, 2012 on 11:02 pm
:-thank you chef my family relished your yummy dal makhani
Rakhi

November 10th, 2012 on 10:11 pm
Hey, just a quick question. Which Cardamom did you use..black or green one?

I used Green –DK
Varsha

November 9th, 2012 on 6:10 am
Badly needed this recipe, in fact landed here looking for a good dal makhni recipe! Of all I found, I liked the way your dal looks, the best. So me makes this tomorrow! Thanks and happy Diwali
Alain

November 5th, 2012 on 9:55 pm
Thank you so much Chef! Out of all the recipes I’ve tried, this comes closest to the dal makhani of my favourite restaurant