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
1½ Teaspoon salt or to your taste
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:
2 Teaspoon crushed red chilies or red
chili powder
2 Tablespoons melted butter or Ghee
Serving for 4
Cooking measurement conversion
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Tomatoes, Onion, Ginger, Garlic & Green chilies
Crushed Peppers, Butter, Cumin seeds & Hing (Asafetida)
Direction for cooking Dal:
1. In a pressure cooker add dal and kidney beans and wash, changing water several times until the water appears clear and then soak it in 5 cups of water over night or at least few hours.
In the pressure cooker add Dal and kidney beans (rajma)
Wash Dal & Rajma well
2. Once Dal and beans are soaked, wash and rinse the Dal and beans.
Soak Dal in Water
Wash & rinse soaked Dal
3. Add 6 cups of water, turmeric powder, salt and 1 teaspoon of oil and mix.and 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.
4. Close the lid of the pressure cooker, place the weight on the lid and cook on medium high heat.
Soaked Dal and Rajma
Add Water in soaked Dal & Rajma
Add Turmeric powder & salt & mix
Close the pressure cooker
5 In about 8 to 10 minutes pressure cooker will start steaming, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 20 to 22 minutes. Turn the stove off and wait until steam goes down. Different brand of cooker require different time to cook.
6 While dal is cooking prepare the onion and cumin seed tadka and keep them aside. (see below for tadka directions)
7. Once the steam of cooker goes down open the cooker, turn the stove on to medium heat.
Open the pressure cooker
Check if Dal & Beans become tender
8. With the cooking spoon mix dal well so there are no lumps and Cook. With the spoon mash some dal that will make the gravy thicker and blend well with the water,
With a Spoon mash some Dal
Dal is blended well
9. 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.
10. Add cumin seed tadka and mix and cook for a minute or untill you have the desired consistency. Turn the stove off.
Add Onion Tadka
Mix Onion Tadka with Dal well
Add cumin seed Tadka
Dal Makhani is ready
11 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.
12. 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.
13. 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 and mix
Whole Black Urad Dal
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 are not adding Kidney beans (Rajma) then you do not need to soak overnight, just cook the Dal little longer.
4. 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 small frying pan, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, chopped onions and
minced garlic, sauté them on medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes or until
onions become light brown, while frequently stirring them.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, grated ginger and chopped green chilies and cook. With the spatula try to mash the tomatoes so that they become soft quickly. In about 5 to 6 minutes tomatoes will become soft and blend with onions. Turn the stove off.
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.
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.
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)