Akshay's Dal Makhani

Akshay's Dal Makhani

Ingredients

• ⅔ or 1 cup urad dal (whole, i.e. unskinned urad lentils AKA beluga lentils)
• ¼ cup red kidney beans (can be omitted if unavailable)
• 2 tbsp yellow gram (AKA Bengal gram or yellow gram), or alternatively red lentils - for added texture, optional
• 1.5 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 black cardamom (optional)
• 2 green cardamoms
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped or grated
• 200 gm of tomato puree (2-4 tomatoes depending on their size)
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste*
• ¾ - 1.5 tsp red chilli powder, depending on strength / to taste
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp fenugreek leaves
• ¼ cup of cream

*Most Indian households will have a jar of this paste in their fridge. 1 tablespoon is usually about a thumb-sized bit of ginger and 2-3 cloves of garlic, both grated down to a fine consistency.

Method

Initial prep (soaking the dal):

1. Rinse dal and kidney beans to remove starch.
2. Soak overnight with plenty of water. If overnight soaking isn’t possible, pour in hot water (close to, but not quite boiling) and soak for ~4 hours.
   

Preparing and cooking the dal:

1. Once soaked, drain all the water and pour in 4 cups of fresh water.
   Bring the dal to a boil and remove any starchy / scummy froth that might form. It should be noted that this is safe to consume (It’s mostly just starch), but the dal is creamier when this is removed.
2. If you have a slow cooker, leave the dal to slow cook for several hours, periodically changing the water if possible.
   I usually leave the dal to slow cook overnight after having soaked it during the day and then replace the water in the morning.
   When replacing the water, make sure it’s boiling hot.
3. If you don’t have a slow-cooker, you can bring the dal to a boil and then leave it to simmer. Many Indian households will use a pressure cooker as a ‘hack’.
   If you have one, 8-10 whistles ought to do it, after which, again, you can leave the dal to simmer.
   The longer you leave it, the creamier and more flavourful it’ll be. Make sure that you replace the water periodically, only adding hot water.
4. To test if it’s cooked, you can mash a lentil or two between your fingers, and it should turn into mush rather than crumble. If it isn’t a pasty consistency (or if it offers any resistance) when crushed, it’s not completely cooked.

Preparing the tadka / masala for the dal (30 minutes):

1. Finely dice the onion.
   Ideally, grate the onion, as it makes for a much finer texture and blends into the dal more easily. Note that your wife, husband, or neighbours might complain when you grate onions. Consider this a good way to test the strength of your community and / or marriage. You’re preparing a fantastic dal for them so they should be thankful, really.
2. Puree the tomatoes. You’ll have a finer puree if you remove the tomato skins. Blanching the tomatoes makes this easy. If you can’t be bothered, it’s fine.
3. Add 1.5 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp ghee to a large hot pan.
4. Toss in 1 bay leaf, black and green cardamom pods and saute for 30s - 1 min or until the bay leaf begins releasing colour / aroma.
5. Add the grated onion and saute on a medium low heat until light brown. Be careful not to burn. Add a little bit of water if it begins to stick to the pan.
6. Once the onions have some colour, add ginger-garlic paste. Stir, making sure that this doesn’t burn as turn the dal a tad bitter.
7. Saute until the raw scent of the garlic dissipates, then add the tomato puree. Stir occasionally, and the mixture will begin to bubble.
8. Toss in the spices: red chilli powder, garam masala, salt. Continue stirring until the masala turns thick.
9. Finally, mash some of the dal that’s (hopefully) been slow cooked into the masala before transferring all of this into the dal.
   

10. Final Stretch (60 minutes)

11. Once the masala’s been added to the dal, turn the cooker down to its lowest setting. Add an additional cup of boiling water and reduce it down.
12. After another half hour, add a 1/2 cup of hot water, and reduce it down yet again.
13. Continue cooking until it has a thicker consistency. Taste test and add salt if necessary.
14. Crush 1/2 a tsp of fenugreek leaves into the dal, add 200 ml of cream, and (optional:) 1 tbsp of butter.
15. Finally, serve with flat bread or rice!