Dal Makhani (kali dal) or Urad lentil is one of the widely cherished, full of flavors lentils. While I was learning and trying various Indian dishes at home, Dal Makhani was amongst the few of my favourites. Coming from a punjabi north Indian family, I have always had dal makhani as the go-to dish, and I had to learn the best way to cook it.
A big thank you to Kunal Kapur for his easy and amazing recipe, to make a restaurant-style Dal Makhani. (I have included a link to his youtube video below).
Ingredients for Dal Makhani
- Urad daal – 100 gms
- Salt as per taste – 1.5 tbsp
- Kashmiri Red chili powder – 2 tbsp
- Butter – 1 tbsp (optional) (JUGNI’s Tip – I added butter at the end to enhance the flavour, but to make it a super rich, you can add butter and cream)
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
- Garlic pods – chopped – 3 tbsp
- Ginger garlic paste – 1.5 tbsp
- Kasuri methi – crushed – 1/2 tsp
- Water (as per the requirement)
Preparation for Dal Makhani
- Soak the dal overnight or for at-least 8 hours.
- Get rid of the soaked water and rub your hands in the wet dal, rub the dal against each other to see the green colour.
- Add dal and 1 tbsp salt to the pressure cooker, add water around 1.5 cups (water should be 1.5 inches above dal level).
- Let it cook on low medium flame for 25 mins (around 6-7 whistles).
- In a deep pan, add some oil.
- On medium flame, add ginger garlic paste and make sure not to burn it while cooking.
- After that add red chilli powder and mix it well for a minute.
- Add freshly pureed tomatoes to the pan and cook it for around 10 minutes (until oil leaves on the side).
- Add pressure cooked dal (remove excess water from the dal) into the pan and mix well. (don’t worry about the dal being dried up, you will add more water in the cooking process).
- Keep the gas on low medium flame and cook for around 20 minutes. You might need to add water in between to maintain consistency, but don’t overdo it :). Also add salt as per your taste.
- Finally, add some butter and let it melt down in the dal. Such a heaven to see that ❤️.
SECOND TADKA for the Dal Makhani
- Take another smaller pan, add 1/2 tbsp oil.
- Add chopped garlic (3-4 garlic pods) into it. Keep the gas on low flame and let the chopped garlic go brown.
- Add more chilli powder if you prefer spicy.
- Pour the mixture on top of the dal makhani.
- Add a pinch of kasuri methi (crushed in palms).
- Mix well and enjoy.
- You can add cream on the final product to enhance richness, I avoided it 🙂 to cut down lil bit of extra calories.
This Dal Makhani has become my star dish of every dinner / lunch party and I get lotsa praises every-time I cook it.
Dal Makhani can be enjoyed with any type of rice, naan, roti or bread, but the best combination is Dal Makhani and butter naan. You will surely see 2 hearts in the eyes of those eating (like I see in Jugnu’s). Haha, I can’t stop laughing mentioning this in the blog. 😂
You can also add kidney beans in the dal to make it more interesting, Jugnu doesn’t prefer that way, so I skip it, but its a great add on. 🙂
Jugnu keeps its separate, dal makhani and Rajma masala are two different heavens for him. I love my dramatic Jugnu. hah!😂
Let me know if you like my recipe by hitting the like button. Also, share it with your friends and family on social media.
Flying away
Jugni.
Hey, Jugni 