A standard dal tends to be yellow or orange, using red or yellow lentils. I had a packet of urid dal lurking about, to be used up. I’ve never made Dal Makhani, but looking it up, it turns out the correct lentil for the recipe is urid (or urad). Urid dal is sometimes described as creamy or even slimy. (It’s amazing how many cultures, particularly Africa, love slimy food).
A scoop of urid/urad dal is often added ‘tempered’ to Indian dishes to add texture and nutrition. I love it in lemon rice for instance.
I bunged half a packet into soak overnight. You are supposed to add kidney beans but I didn’t have any so sod that. Dal Makhani is best when cooked very slowly and time is not a usual ingredient in restaurants. The slow cooking boosts the viscosity of the dish rendered delicious by the addition of cream and butter.
The word ‘makhani’ is Punjabi for buttery. The addition of tomato and cream to a black dal transforms it into a rich banqueting dish.
Regarding ginger and garlic, I’ve taken to buying those frozen cubes that you see for sale in Indian corner shops. It’s great to have a handy packet in the freezer!
This dish could be made in a pressure cooker but I’m a bit scared of them.
Dal Makhani
Ingredients
- 250 g urid dal, whole, split, white or black, soak overnight
- thumb of ginger
- 1 chilli
- 1 tbsp of turmeric powder or a whole fresh root
- 50 g ghee
- 100 g butter
- 1 brown onion, chopped
- 1 cube garlic and ginger frozen or fresh
- 150 ml tomato passata
- 2 tbsp garum masala powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 5 green cardamon pods
- large pinch fenugreek leaves, crushed
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- salt to taste
To serve:
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 100 ml cream, double or single
- more butter to serve
Instructions
- After soaking the dal, put in a heavy pot covering with water, and cook on a low heat for several hours until soft. Add the ginger, turmeric and chilli to the pot.
- Temper the spices: put the ghee and butter into another pot and heat on a medium heat. Add the onion, fry till soft.
- Add the garlic, ginger, spices, stir and fry for 5 or so minutes.
- Add the tomato passata, stir and fry for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Mash 1/3 rd of the lentils and add both the whole lentils and the mashed ones to the pot. Add the vegetable stock. Cook on a low heat for at least an hour.
- Check seasoning regularly and add salt if necessary.
- Add the liquid smoke and the cream.
- When serving, add a knob of butter. Serve with Indian flatbreads or rice, and yoghurt.
A few notes:
As I live alone, I’ve put some small separate portions in the freezer for another time. This dish takes a long time to cook so it’s handy to have some defrostable/microwaveable portions
If you loosened this up with more water (or say, coconut milk), it could be a soup. A dal is somewhat between a stew and a soup. Everyone likes their dal of a different consistency.
For tempering, you use ghee/butter/mustard seed oil/coconut oil to fry some mustard seeds, some whole chillies, then add a scoop of urid dal. It’s a bit like adding croutons.
I added fenugreek seeds rather than leaves as I had run out. Fenugreek, when tempered, adds a burst of bitterness, which is good for you.
Liquid Smoke might be an unusual ingredient for you but it’s a good standby to have in your pantry if you want a smoked flavour. The proper way to make this with Dal Makhani is to stand a metal cup in the pot, add a hot piece of wood charcoal and pour over the butter, covering the pot with a lid. This way the dish has a smoky flavour. Liquid Smoke is a cheaty way of doing this. Otherwise you could make this dal on the barbecue, especially a Green Egg type bbq, in which case the dal accrues that smoky vibe.
As a butter lover, don’t stint on the butter!
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