One of the most favoured and popular North Indian dish that everyone craves for. Dal makhani has been the soul of the parties for a long time; everyone loves Dal Makhani as one of the main dishes in a get together. Every host tries to fill joy in the heart of their guests with some mouth watering dish, thus making Dal makhani a best choice to win over hearts of many. As easy it seems to be prepared, makhani dal holds its own secrets for being a mouthful to a cuisine disaster. Dal makhani preparation requires a beautiful mix of art and patience and one can easily master it by cooking the Dal with patience.
For cooking dal makhani we require:
- A good quality steamer/Pressure cooker
- Chopping board/ grinder
- Large ladle
- One large pan
And other basic utensils to pour dal from cooker to pan and etc.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whole urad dal (available in Indian grocery stores)
- 1/8 cup red kidney beans (Rajma)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 minced green pepper or adjust to taste (Hari Mirch)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (Haldi)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (Amchoor)
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 cup cream
- 2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (Jeera)
- Pinch of asafetida (Hing)
- 3 to 4 whole red chilies (Sabut Lal Mirch)
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder optional (Lal Mirch)
For Garnish:
1/2 tablespoon shredded ginger
Method:
Wash urad dal and kidney beans well. Soak the dal in six cups of water at least for eight hours. After soaking, dal will be about two and a half times the volume of the original.
Place the dal in a pressure cooker with four cups of water. Add the salt, turmeric, ginger, and green chili.
Set to cook over medium high heat. When it begins to steam, turn the heat down to medium. Cook 25 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Wait until steam has stopped before opening the pressure cooker. The dal and kidney beans should be soft and tender.
Lightly mash the kidney beans and dal. Cook for another five minutes on low-to-medium heat.
Add cream, garam masala, and amchoor powder. Cook for ten minutes on low heat.
Heat the ghee in a small saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away, the oil is ready(switch on the chimney/ Exhaust fan for the removal of any smoke and smell due to cooking). Add cumin seeds. When they crack, add the asafetida, red chilies, and red chili powder. Stir for a few seconds.
Add cumin seeds, and as the cumin seeds crack add asafetida, red chilies and red chili powder and stir for a few seconds.
Add one teaspoon of water to keep the spices from burning(water will make oil jump out from the pan, hence be careful while doing so and pour from one side of the pan). Pour the spiced ghee over the dal.
Garnish with shredded ginger(while poring ghee over the dal make sure that the pan is covered partially as the ghee might sprinkle on while pouring).