Yesterday was one of the rare days when Sikander actually asked me to prepare something particular – Daal Makhani. Normally he doesn’t know what’s for dinner until he sees it on the table! He was coming back after 10 days in Assam and had had something ‘similar’ to daal makhani the night before which left a lot to be desired. This was my first time with the dish. For some reason I had always left Daal Makhani for the restaurants. I always thought it would be a task to get the creamy smooth texture but I passed and with distinction too 🙂
My reference was a Tarla Dalal’s recipe but I did my own modifications to it. Here it goes
Daal Makhani
Preparation Time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 40 mins| Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup Whole black gram with skin (black urad daal)
¼ cup Red kidney beans (rajma)
100 gms fresh cream
4-6 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
1 inch Ginger (½ grated and ½ slivered)
2 medium sized Onions (finely chopped)
4 medium sized Tomatoes (skinned and puréed)
2-3 Green chillies (slit into 2)
1 inch Cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
2 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
½ tsp dry mange (amchoor) powder
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
3 tbsps Butter
2 tbsps Oil
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste
Method
- Wash and soak urad dal, and rajma for at least six hours (preferably overnight).
- Drain soaked dals, add 3-4 cups of water, salt, turmeric powder and half of red chilli powder and pressure-cook for about half an hour (5-6 whistles). You want the daals to be a bit overcooked. Keep aside. When the daals cool down, take about 2 tbsp of the cooked daal and blend to a paste. Add it to the remaining daal. (This would give it a smooth texture)
- Meanwhile heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add cinnamon, cloves, grated ginger, garlic, onions, green chillies and sauté for 10-15 minutes until the onions are golden brown in colour.
- Add tomato purée and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining red chilli powder, amchoor powder, coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder and cook until the mixture leaves oil on side.
- Remove the mixture from heat, take out the cinnamon stick and cloves from the mixture and blend it to a smooth paste. Return to heat.
- Stir in the cooked daals (with the water in which they were boiled) and butter. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt if required.
- Stir in cream and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle the remaining garam masala and slivered ginger. Mix well.
- Garnish with cream and fresh coriander.
To skin and puree tomatoes:
Make a cross cut on the tomato skin and boil them in water. The skin will now come off easily. Puree with a blender.
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