Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Dal Makhni/ creamy Lentil Gravy

The Dal Makhni/ creamy Lentil Gravy



dal Makhni is very popular dish from northern India. But it is so delicious and lovable that almost everyone loves it. It is also know as Dal Bukhara, Maa ki Dal and various other names. The basic preparation of all the mentioned Dal involved 3 steps- 
1. Soaking
2. Boiling
3. Tampering/ cooking the dal/ lentil further with onion tomatoes mixture and seasonings. 

The traditional way of making Dal Makhni required soaking the dal for minimum 6-8 hours. With me personally, I have realised that the soaking never happens before hand. Every time I plan to make this dal when I haven't soaked it. :D
But, to this I have found a solution too, I have my version of Dal Makhni, which requires not much soaking , no special spices, and the taste can beat any famous restaurant's special Dal Makhni. Yes, you prepare it once and I bet you will agree to this. I am confident on my preparation of my style Dal Makhni as I have prepared it many times now, and it has always been a super hit with friends and family.

So without wasting any further time, let's get started...:)

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Rajma/ Kidney beans
- 1/4 cup black Massor Dal/ brown lentil
- 1/2 cup sabut Urad dal/ whole black lentil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 1 medium sized onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp. Ginger garlic paste 
- 1/2 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- a pinch of asafoetida
- 3-4 tbsp. fresh cream at room temp.
- 1.5 cups water ( apart from used in soaking dal)

Process
1. Take a bowl mix all the dal ( Rajma,masoor and Urad) together. And wash it.
2. Now take boiling hot water and pour the dal in the water. Let this rest for at least 30 minutes. Water should be almost 1 inch above the dal level. Not too much nor to less.
3. Now take a pressure cooker, add dals along with water in which it was soaked and 1.5 cup extra water. Also, add salt and the bay leaf to the cooker and put it on high flame on gas stove.
4. Till one whistle let the flame be high, after 1 whistle turn down the flame to low and let the dal cook for 20 minutes by clock. 
5. Once dal is cooked, and pressure cooker opens, take a masher or hand whisk and mash/churn dal very lightly.
6. Now, in a grinder jar add tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves and make smooth paste out of them.
7. Heat 1/2 tbsp of ghee in a pan on medium flame. Add cumin see and let splutter
8. Once done, add asafoetida.
9. Add onion tomato paste and ginger garlic paste to the pan. Let this mix cook for about 2 minutes.
10. Now let's add the seasoning. Start with 1/4 tsp of salt, then add coriander and cumin powder. Also, add garam masala along with Kashmiri chilli powder.
11. Mix everything nicely. And let the mix cook till it starts leaving oil from the edges of the pan.
12. Once done, add boiled dal ( you can now take out the bay leaf and discard from dal).
13. Mix the dal and spice mix nicely. Let it boil, and then add the fresh cream.
14. Cook on low flame for another 5-7 minutes. 

Your yummy and perfect Dal Makhni is ready. serve it with hot naan, parantha, rice or simple fulkas...:):)

Few imp. Tips
1. Please do not skip to add the black masoor dal, since it's an instant version of dal. Masoor dal will give that creamy texture and thickness to the dal.
2. If you want to add home made cream. Please ensure its well beated with no lumps and is in room temperature else it will split in dal.
3. You can garnish it with grated paneer or a dollop of butter/ cream.
4. This dal thickens very quickly, so at any point of time of you will its getting thicker you can add 1/3 cup water/ milk.

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