Hello readers!
Welcome to easy cooking blog no
Introduction
The recipe for today is Dal-makhni!
Dal-makhni is a whole black urad lentil mixed with a handful of red kidney beans/ rajma soaked for at least 6 hours or overnight pressure cooked with some basic spices and herb with a dollop of ghee/butter or fresh cream served with butter naan or jeera rice. This particular dal is hugely flavourful, creamy and rich. It is one of the north Indian delicacies which is equally loved across the world.
People used to cook this dal in a mud pot over a wood fire or rustic stove a few decades back. They would leave this dal over the wood fire for several hours on low heat since it takes longer to cook, and slow cooking is the key to smooth, creamy dal makhni. But, as years passed by, we all had less time on our hands to go for elaborated cooking, and we discovered our ways to make this delicious dal makhni in less time with less work.
Different people cook this dal differently. I will be sharing my way of cooking it. It is extremely easy and straightforward. Without further due, let me share the ingredients and the recipe. Let's get started.
Check out my other exciting recipes given below.
Aloo paratha/ potato stuffed flatbread.
Nutri ki sabzi/ soyabean chunk curry
Aloo gobi ki sabzi/ cauliflower and potato curry
Pooha/ flattened rice breakfast recipe
Ingredients Qty
Whole black lentil 1 cup
Red kidney beans 1/4 cup
Garlic as per taste
Ginger as per taste
Green chilli as per taste
Asafoetida a pinch
Salt as per taste
Turmeric 2 tsp
Red chilli powder as per taste
Cumin seeds 2 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Garam masala ½ tsp
Butter/ oil/ghee as per taste
Fresh cream (optional)
Cooking time: under 60 minutes.
Procedure
Step 1: Soaking of lentil and red kidney beans
Take one cup of whole black lentil and 1/4 cup of red kidney beans (beans are optional) in a wide bowl and wash them together under running water a couple of times.
Now soak them in water overnight or for at least 6 hours. Soaking helps to cook this dal in less time.
Once the dal is soaked well, wash it one more time, drain the water it was soaked overnight and use fresh water to pressure cook it for 1 cup of dal; add 4-5 cups of water.
Add the grounded/ crushed ginger, garlic and green chillies to the dal.
Now add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and asafoetida, and one tsp of oil and pressure cook the dal till 4 to 5 whistles on high heat; after that, turn the heat to low to medium and slow cook the dal for at least half an hour by releasing the pressure in between with the help of a spoon.
Do not leave the pressure cooker unattended for a long time. Keep checking in between.
To check the dal, release the pressure first, remove the cooker's lid, and check the dal grain by pressing in between the fingers. Once the dal is soft and mushy, it is ready for tempering.
Step 3: Tempering
Once the dal is nicely cooked, prepare the tempering for it.
It is your choice what you want to add; take some oil or ghee in a small pan turn the heat to medium.
Once the oil is hot enough, add the cumin and coriander seeds, let them sizzle, add some red chilli powder and garam masala, and add this tempering to the dal and mix everything well. Before serving it, you can add some butter/ghee/ cream as well.
Garnishing
There are so many different ways to garnish this delicious dal as per your choice and preferences. However, I will be showing how I like to garnish my bowl of dal-makhni.
Once the dal is ready to be served, add a big chunk of butter or clarified butter/ghee. The addition of ghee or butter enhances the flavours to the next level.
Or you can drizzle some fresh cream before serving it; it also makes the dal so tasty, creamy, smooth and rich. However, the addition of cream makes the dal difficult to digest for those who have a weak digestive system. So, if you have it for the first time with the cream, add the cream in less quantity first.
And if you are watching your fat intake and do not want to go for oily garnishing, you can add some fresh coriander leaves and enjoy this delicious bowl of dal-makhni.
Serving suggestions
This delicious and rich dal can be served with plain naan, butter naan, garlic naan, roti and paratha.
It can also be served with jeera rice or any biryani.
I sometimes have this dal with traditional Makki ki roti/ maize flour roti.
You can also enjoy this dal with tawa toasted bread. It tastes equally good.
When I have my friends over, I make this dal makhni along with aloo gobi ki sabzi, jeera rice, garlic naan and some spiced chilled yogurt.
Tips and tricks
To make the best dal makhni, do not forget to soak the lentil overnight or at least 6 hours before cooking it. Soaked dal takes less time to cook.
Once the dal is soaked, wash it at least twice before putting it into a pressure cooker. Do not use the water used to soak the dal; always throw that water and use fresh water for cooking the dal.
After 4-5 whistles, always try to cook this dal on low heat for a long period. Slow cooking is the key to perfect creamy dal makhni.
Do not forget to add a pinch of asafoetida as it aids in the digestion of this dal.
To temper this dal, you can only have cumin seeds/jeera in ghee or oil, or you can add traditional ginger, garlic, onion, and tomato tadka. You can omit or add anything you like.
If you wish to or you want to give this dal a royal taste and look, you can add dry dome spices like cinnamon, bay leaf, black cardamom and nutmeg. But this is optional; without any of these dry spices, dal tastes delicious.
That is it for today!
I hope you like this straightforward recipe of dal makhni .
Do share your thoughts in the box below.
Thank you!
Neha
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