Dal Makhani- For Day 3
8:01 AM
Yesterday we slept late and while hitting bed both of us decided ‘jakhan chokh khulbe takhon sakal” which loosely mean to start the day whenever we wake up. But ‘man poses and God disposes’. Early morning we got a call from one of our very loving relative who lives in the city. He wanted to come and meet the baby. We love this person’s company and happily invited him for Dinner, but the problem was what to cook. After all the festive parties, get togethers and late nights I was feeling very tired. So wanted to make something easy, quick and tasty. (It’s another matter that these are the most important attribute of any recipe that I look for these days.) This relative of ours loves Dal Makhani, which also is an absolute favourite of mine. Whenever am in restaurants I order this creamy dal with tandoori rotis. But never tried my hand in cooking this as I was not sure which kind of lentil they use for it.
Dal makhani literally mean different types of lentils mingled together in one creamy dish. This is a Punjabi preparation and is also known as Maa di dal. Where Maa is whole urad lentil in Punjabi, but some of us love to call it mother’s dal or dal cooked by Maa. This is kind of a very comforting food eaten with hot roti or naan. Recently when I was home one of my cousins, who is a hotel management graduate came in my rescue and shared this recipe. Following which last month I brought home a pack of whole urad for the first time. So the first issue was sorted. The second one was I wanted to make it healthy without compromising the flafour, consistency and most importantly the taste. The restaurant variety that my cousin shared is laden with butter and cream but I wanted to cut on that. So I decided to use homemade yogurt and milk.
The dish came out really well just what I wanted, creamy and mildly flavoured. Like always I asked Hubby to check for the seasoning. He tried a spoonful but dint say anything, then brought a bowl and filled it with more dal and said a single word ‘wonderful!’ For me it says all, but you need to try this recipe to bring that restaurant taste home.
Here is how I made my Dal Makhani
Ingredients:
Whole urad lentil: 1 cup
Red kidney beans: ¼ cup
Onion: 2 medium; finely chopped
Ginger paste: 11/2 tsp
Garlic paste: 2 tsp
Tomato: 1 medium
Curd: 1/3 cup, I used homemade curd as it’s not very sour.
Milk: ½ cup
Vegetable oil: 3 tbsp
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Chili powder: 1 tsp or more according to your taste
Whole clove, cinnamon and cardamom: 2-3 pieces
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
And water as required
Method:
Wash and soak the lentils separately as they take different time to get soft. I soaked them almost for 8 hours.
Wash the lentils again and first pressure cook the red kidney beans with salt and ½ tsp of garam masala powder for 3 whistles. Then add the urad and cook for another 2 whistles. Keep aside.
Beat the curd till creamy and keep aside.
Heat oil and ghee and temper it with the whole spices. When it gives off the aroma add in the chopped onion. Fry on low heat till lightly brown.
Stir in ginger-garlic paste, salt and red chilli powder. Again cook on low till oil separates at sides.
Tip in chopped tomato and cook on low. When the whole spice mix starts to leave the sides of the pan add the curd and mix well. Once everything is combined transfer this to the pressure cooker with the boiled lentils. Add the milk, check the seasoning.
Let it pressure cook for another 10 minutes or till the lentils are very soft and creamy.
Open the lead sprinkle a pinch of garam masala powder and serve hot with Roti, Naan or Paratha.
we had ours with lachha paratha.
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14 comments
Nice and creamy dal. I have'nt tried dal makhni yet , and this recipe seems like the perfect one to try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping at my blog.
ReplyDeleteSo inviting pics of your Dal-Makhani! Looks so creamy. :)
Homemade any day. Looks delicious and yogurt works so much better than cream. Those lachha parathas are talking to me.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pics and dal makhani looks absolutely mouth watering..
ReplyDeleteLovely presentation..looks very welcoming!
ReplyDeleteVery tempting dal makhni. Step by step procedure made this dish quite easy to prepare. Pic looks perfect.
ReplyDeleteChitchat
http://chitchatcrossroads.blogspot.com/
lovely pics as usualy,makhani looks delicious with the cream over it..
ReplyDeleteLike you, I also love, love, love Dal Makhani ... and have a favorite recipe that I keep going back to. But, this sounds exceptionally delicious ... have bookmarked it for after the marathon :D
ReplyDeleteSuch a healthy and nutritious dish..lovely presentation as well..
ReplyDeleteThanx for visiting my blog...dal makhani looks so rich and creamy and my fav...
ReplyDeletelovely clicks and nice dal..the pics are too tempting..
ReplyDelete@Sowjanya, Sonia A big thanks to you!
ReplyDelete@Indo, same here and the yogurt is a real good substitute for cream. but better to use homemade ones as they are not very sour.
@parita, Pavni n Deepa, you like the click? thanks buddies I consider myself the worst.
@Pruya, Sushma, Ms. Chitchat, am glad that you liked the presentation. am learning
@Sheetal, let me know how you like it. besides what cooking tomorrow?
That dal looks wonderful, and I am really staring at the paratha! :)
ReplyDeleteDal Makhani is one of famous Punjabi dal. It's considered in a premium dish. Have you ever tried these dishes like Paneer Makhani, soya Makhani? You will get these recipes on site Living Foodz. One of the royal dishes in Punjabi, very spicy and tasty. This is shared by Chef Gurdip Kohli Punj and Chef Gautam Mehrishi
ReplyDelete