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Lots more Dals, Bean/Lentil Stews here
Black gram/ Urad Whole (Black Matpe Bean)
Black gram is different than black lentils. Black gram looks like a black mung bean, fat and cylindrical, while black lentils(beluga) are black colored flat lentils. You can use black lentils or other lentils in this recipe if you don’t have black gram. I have only seen it in Indian stores and online, so it can be difficult to come by.
Red Kidney Beans
Whole Urad lentils, Vigna mungo, black gram or black lentil are these pretty lentils which look like black Mung beans. The beans are available as whole or split or split+skinned like most whole lentils in India.
Urad lentils are also extensively used in South Indian culinary preparations, such as dosa crepes, idli – steamed lentil cakes, vada – savory doughnuts, and Papad/Papadum (Ground into flour or soaked and fermented etc).
Step by step photos:
Tempering/Tadka Ingredients.
Heat oil. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant.
Add garlic, ginger, chili and cook until golden.
Add onions and cook until translucent.
Add tomatoes, asafetida, garam masala and cook until tomatoes are tender.
Add tempering to cooked beans. Add milks, mix well.
Cook until the beans are mushy.
Serve hot topped with a dollop of vegan butter or olive oil. The pictured Dal is cooked in a pressure cooker that breaks the beans down really well. If using slow cooker or crockpot to cook the dal, mash some of the dal with a spatula.
Vegan Dal Makhani - Black lentils and Beans in creamy buttery gravy
Ingredients
For the Lentils:
- 1 cup whole black gram, , Urad Whole or use black lentils(see first paragraph for sub options)
- 1/2 cup kidney beans, , Rajma
- 3.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, or cayenne or to taste
For the Tempering:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2-3 green chilis finely chopped, I use Serrano chili pepper
- 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
- 5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 medium size onion, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida, hing
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 medium size tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala, regular or punjabi
- 1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves, Kasoori methi, or Use a 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek/methi seeds-Optional
- 2 Tablespoons Almond milk
- 1/3 cup Cashew milk, Blend 3 tbsp cashews in 1/3 cup water until smooth.
- Vegan butter such as Earth Balance as needed
Instructions
- Soak the lentils and beans overnight.
- Pressure cook black gram and Kidney beans in 3.5 cups of water with salt and chili powder for 3-4 whistles (25 minutes at high pressure once pressure has reached).
- Or use a slow cooker to cook urad beans and keep ready. Kidney beans cannot be cooked in a slow cooker from raw state, so use 1 cup cooked canned beans.
- In a large pan, add oil and heat on medium-high heat.
- Add cumin seeds and cook till they start to change color.
- Add ginger, garlic and green chili and saute until golden.
- Add onion, asafetida and cook until translucent.
- Add the tomato and turmeric and cook until tomatoes are mushy. (13-15 minutes till this step).
- Add the cooked black gram, kidney beans and the water they were cooked in.
- Add garam masala, fenugreek and the milks. Mix, taste and adjust salt.
- Add more water if the mixture is too thick.
- Simmer on low heat till the dals/beans are totally soft. Mash some of the lentils with the spatula. 30 minutes.
- Or Pressure cook for 5 minutes at high pressure once the pressure has reached. (1 whistle + simmer for 5)
- Top with a small dollop of vegan butter or olive oil and cilantro.
- Serve with Roti/Naan flatbread or Rice Pilaf or other cooked grains like Quinoa, millet.
Video
Notes
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Soak the lentils and beans overnight.
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Pressure cook black gram and Kidney beans in 3.5 cups of water with salt and chili powder for 30 minutes at high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally.
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In a large pan or a cleaned out instant pot, add oil and heat on medium-high heat or saute mode in the IP.
-
Add cumin seeds and cook till they start to change color.
-
Add ginger, garlic and green chili and saute until golden.
-
Add onion, asafetida and cook until translucent.
-
Add the tomato and turmeric and cook until tomatoes are mushy. (13-15 minutes till this step). Deglaze with 2 tbsp of water if needed.
-
Add the cooked black gram, kidney beans and the water they were cooked in.
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Add garam masala, fenugreek and the milks. Mix really well to pick up any stuck bits, taste and adjust salt.
-
Add more water if the mixture is too thick.
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Pressure cook for 5 to 10 mins, Or simmer on saute for 30 minutes.(depends on your preferred consistency of the beans). Mash some of the lentils with the spatula.
- Top with a small dollop of vegan butter or olive oil and cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this last night and it was so delicious … and so authentic. Thank you 🙂
Hi Richa,
I love you site and your cookbook. I make this recipe about once every two or three weeks and love it.
I thought I would share with you- I recently bought a bunch of chili pepper seeds and got a free packet of Ghost Pepper powder for free. I decided to add a little Ghost Pepper powder to this recipe (not sure exactly how much it was as I used the end of a paring knife to measure it out- I would say about 1/8th tsp or maybe a little less)- it is freakin amazing! Highly recommended if you love spicy! One thing I love about this dish is how well it does regardless of the level of spicy heat.
I made this last night and it is wonderful! Taste just like a restaurant but with a lot less salt! Thank you so much for this excellent recipe!
Awesome! you can always adjust salt to preference. Fenugreek has a bitter salty flavor profile, so sometimes that adds unexpected saltyness to the dal as well.
Hi Richa,
My dal makhani was very light in color and not dark like yours. I like dark colored foods.
I added cashew milk (1/4 cup cashews+1/4 cup water). Should I use less cashews next time?
Thanks
Was the dal dark before you added cashew milk? you can also simmer it longer with the cashew milk as the urad and rajma color eventually takes over, or add a bit less cashews (thinner cashew milk with 2 to 3 tbsp cashews)
When to add cashew cream/milk? Thanks
with the dried fenugreek.
Would it be OK to soak everything for the lentils overnight in the slow cooker and then add the canned beans (instead of raw) and other ingredients the next day? I don’t have a pressure cooker. If so, does it cook in the slow cooker for 25 minutes as well or should it be all day/something else? Thanks!
I don’t know anything about slow cookers unfortunately.
This recipe looks so good. Did you add black mustard seeds (see onions image)? Thanks,
Hi Patricia, yes there are some mustard seeds in the pictures. 🙂 My mom adds just cumin or both cumin and mustard. These are pictures from one of her visits when she made the dal and I clicked the steps. You can use just cumin or 1 tsp cumin + 1/2 tsp mustard as well.
I made this dal yesterday. I was grocery shopping and I saw whole black lentils lying there. I was like huh…. take them with me, I’m gonna make me some dal baby 😀 … It turned out great, was very delicious. I made some aloo paratha to go with it. I had some potato stuffing left, baked it and put a spoonful in my dal. It actually worked as a binder. And it tasted extra good 🙂 🙂
Awesome! you mixed the potato filling in the dal or the dal in the potato filling?
I mixed the potato filling in the dal. Just like three tablespoons in the middle of my plate with dal. Was very good!
Awesome!