Dal Makhani Recipe
Dal Makhani recipe made in Punjabi style. Delicious lentil dish made from black gram and basic spices. It is served with plain basmati rice, naan, kulcha, roti or plain paratha
Dal Makhani recipe made in Punjabi style. Delicious lentil dish made from black gram and basic spices. It is served with plain basmati rice, naan, kulcha, roti or plain paratha
- salt as needed
- â½ tsp garam masala
- â½ cup whole black lentil or sabut urad dal
- â¼ cup rajma or red kidney beans (can reduce to 3
- 2.5 cups water for pressure cooking
- 1 small black cardamom or badi elaichi
- 1 small bay leaf or tej patta
- â¼ to â½ tsp turmeric powder or haldi
- 2 tbsp oil or butter
- â¼ to â½ tsp cumin or jeera
- 1/8 tsp hing or asafoetida
- 1 medium fine chopped onion
- 2 medium fine chopped tomato deseeded
- â¾ tsp ginger finely chopped or grated or adrak
- â¾ tsp finely chopped or 3 to 4 garlic cloves or l
- 1 green chilies slit optional or hari mirch
- â½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder or daniya powder
- 1 cups water to add later (half cup each time while simm
- 2 tbsps cream
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves or daniya patta
- 1 tbsps butter or 1 tbsp cream
- Carbohydrate 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 7 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0.45577 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (7g)
- Sodium 38.758 mg
- Sugar 0 g
- Trans Fat 0.308 g
- Calories 62 calories
Step-by-step
- Wash dal and rajma together several times and soak overnight or at least for 4 to 5 hours.
- Pressure cook with 2.5 cups of water, cardamom and bay leaf for 4 to 5 whistles on a medium heat or for 25 to 30 minutes if cooking in a pot.
- Heat a pan with butter or oil. Add cumin and allow to crackle. Add hing and ginger garlic and saute until aromatic.
- Add onions and fry until they turn golden. Add tomatoes, green chilli, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Saute until the tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add garam masala, coriander powder. Saute well again for 1 to 2 mins.
- Pour the cooked lentils along with the stock.
- Stir and cook for about 2 hours stirring often in between to prevent burning the bottom. You will need to add half cup water when ever the dal thickens. You may need to add about 1.5 to 2 cups water more as and when needed.
- You will be left with thick creamy dal. Add cream and stir. Cook for another 5 to 7 mins.
- Add chopped coriander and ginger juliennes for garnish. You can also garnish with butter or cream.
- Serve dal makhani with naan, plain rice, roti or jeera rice.
Substituting canned kidney beans for dried rajma alters the cooking timeline completely, removing the mandatory overnight soaking step while maintaining structural integrity if added during the final simmer. Whole black urad dal and kidney beans demand thorough washing until the water runs clear to eliminate surface starches that cause muddy gravies. Cooking lentils until they collapse entirely provides the natural body required for a velvety sauce, reducing reliance on heavy dairy.
Freezing and Reheating Mechanics
Batch cooking this dish yields exceptional results because prolonged resting allows the spices to penetrate the dense lentil matrix. Cool the dal rapidly within two hours of completion before transferring airtight containers to the freezer, where quality remains optimal for up to three months. Thaw frozen portions overnight in the refrigerator rather than on the countertop to prevent bacterial growth. Reheat chilled dal over medium-low heat, incorporating two tablespoons of warm water incrementally to reconstitute the sauce without scorching the bottom of the vessel.
- Scaling quantities requires doubling aromatics proportionally while reducing added water by ten percent to prevent a watery consistency.
- Stirring every ten minutes during the extended two-hour simmer prevents localized burning at the base of heavy-bottomed pots.
- Adding dairy too early causes curdling; stir cream into the mixture only during the final five minutes of cooking.
