Make Dal Makhani

Dal makhani is a creamy and buttery lentil dish that originated in the Punjab region of India. The dish is often served with rice or naan bread, and it’s a popular meal for special occasions like birthdays, weddings, and holidays. There are a few ways of cooking dal makhani, including the basic home-style and restaurant-style. The ingredients and cooking methods are the same for the two versions, but the difference is that restaurant-style dal is finished with dhungar, which is a special smoking technique.

Ingredients

Home-Style Dal

• 1 cup (200 g) whole black lentils, dried
• ½ cup (100 g) kidney beans, dried
• 4 cups (940 ml) water, plus water for soaking
• 3 tablespoons (41 g) ghee
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) cumin seeds
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon (one-inch piece) fresh ginger, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) Punjabi garam masala
• Salt, to taste
• 3 tablespoons (15 g) cream
• Handful coriander leaves, chopped

Dhungar

• Charcoal, one small piece
• ½ teaspoon (3 ml) oil

Steps

Making Home-Style Dal

1. Gather your supplies and ingredients. The quickest and easiest way to make dal makhani is with a pressure cooker, but you can also cook the beans in a lidded pot. Along with your ingredients and the pressure cooker, you'll also need:
   • Large bowl for soaking the beans
   • Strainer
   • Large frying pan
   • Wooden spoon
2. Soak the beans. One of the main features of dal makhani is that it’s creamy and rich. To get the right consistency and texture, the beans must be soaked so that they become soft.
   • Place the beans in a large bowl and cover them with 3 to 4 cups of water. Allow them to soak overnight.
   • If you don’t have time to soak the beans, place them in a large pot with water, and bring them to a rolling boil for five minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the beans and water with a lid, and let them sit for an hour.
   • The black lentils that you use for this dish are also called black gram and urad dal. You can also use split black lentils if you prefer.
3. Cook the beans. After soaking, strain the beans and discard the water they were soaking in. Place the beans into the pressure cooker with 4 cups of water. Lock the lid and heat the pressure cooker over high heat until it reaches proper pressure.
   • When the pressure cooker whistles the first time, reduce the heat a little and continue cooking the beans over medium–high heat for about 10 minutes, until the beans are soft.
   • If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook the beans over medium–high heat in a lidded pot for 45 minutes to an hour.
   • Remove the beans from the heat when they're ready.
4. Toast the cumin. Heat the ghee over medium heat in a large frying pan. Add the cumin seeds and toast them until they become fragrant and start to change color.
   • Ghee is clarified butter, but you can also use regular butter or oil to toast the cumin.
5. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger. When the cumin is toasted, add the chopped onion, garlic, and ginger to the frying pan. Heat over medium heat until everything becomes golden brown.
   • Stir the mixture regularly so the garlic doesn’t burn. Burnt garlic becomes bitter, and this will change the flavor of the dish.
6. Add the tomatoes, chili powder, and turmeric. Add the ingredients to the onion mixture and turn the heat up high. Cook for five to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and reduce to a thick pulp or sauce-like consistency.
   • Continue stirring regularly to prevent the tomatoes from burning to the bottom of the pan.
   • You can also substitute tomato paste for some or all of the tomatoes to give the dish a deeper color and richer flavor.
7. Add the beans to the sauté mixture. Pour the beans into the frying pan along with the water they cooked in. Using the back of your spoon, mash most of the beans to release the meat from within.
   • Mashing the beans will thicken the dal and give the dish it’s characteristic creamy texture.
   • If the mixture is too thick, add some fresh water. The dal should be about as thick as a thick soup.
8. Season with garam masala and salt. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer the dal for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for another few minutes, long enough to heat the cream through.
   • Use heavy cream for the richest flavor, or regular cream or milk for a slightly lighter version.
   • Taste the dish before serving and add more salt if desired. You can also stir in a pinch of dried fenugreek leaves to give the dal a slightly sweet and nutty flavor.

Adding Smokiness for Restaurant-Style Dal

1. Gather your supplies. To make restaurant-style dal, you take a batch of home-made dal and add smoke flavor to it using the dhungar method, which is a way of smoking dishes using hot charcoal. To do this, you will need:
   • Hot and freshly prepared home-style dal in a large pot or pan with a lid
   • Small piece of natural lump charcoal (not charcoal briquettes, which are treated with glue and other ingredients)
   • Open flame
   • Tongs
   • Small heat-proof bowl
2. Heat the charcoal. Grab the piece of charcoal with tongs and heat it over the open flame. You can use a candle, a torch, or the flame from a gas stove. Turn the charcoal regularly so that it heats evenly.
   • Heat the charcoal until it becomes red hot. When it’s ready, carefully place it into the small heat-proof bowl.
3. Smoke the dal. Place the bowl with the hot charcoal in the center of the prepared dal dish. Drizzle the oil over the charcoal and let it smoke and sizzle.
   • Immediately place the lid over the dal and the charcoal and let the smoke infuse into the dal for about two minutes.
4. Remove the charcoal. After two minutes, remove the lid and use the tongs to remove the bowl of charcoal from the dal. Set the bowl aside and allow it to cool.
   • Give the dal one final stir before serving.
5. Garnish and serve. Remove the dal from the heat when it’s cooked and serve it hot. You can garnish each serving with an extra drizzle of cream and a sprinkle of coriander leaves.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Khichdi
• Make Samosas
• Make Rasam
• Make Pakoras
• Cook Indian Onion Bhaji
• Make Saag Aloo
• Make Potato 65
• Make Instant Andhra Rasam