Restaurant-Style Dal Makhani
Dal Makhani is one of the most ordered Indian dish in restaurants. You can make authentic, buttery, rich dal makhani at home. It’s just as good as the restaurant version! Black gram and kidney beans are simmered in a creamy spiced sauce and is perfect for special occasions or a great dinner. With Instant Pt and Sauce Pan instructions. (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, oil-free option)
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the Dal
- 1 cup whole urad dal black gram/black matpe beans, uncooked
- 1/3 cup dry kidney beans uncooked
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- water amount depends on cooking method you choose, see below
For the Sauce
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 black cardamom partially opened
- 2 green cardamoms partially opened
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 5 to 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 inch ginger minced
- 1 hot green chili finely chopped, such as Indian green chili or Serrano. Use milder, if needed, or just omit for less heat, if needed.
- 2- inch cinnamon stick broken in half
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 4 ounces tomato puree passata, or blended tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped tomato or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasuri methi
- 1/2 cup non-dairy cream such as cashew cream, coconut cream, or yogurt
- water as needed
For the Spiced Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasuri methi
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon water
For Garnish
- cilantro
- more non-dairy cream
- lemon juice
Instructions
Make the beans.
- In a bowl, wash the urad dal and kidney beans thoroughly, then drain. Add back to the bowl with 3 times as much water as beans, and soak overnight. The next day, drain, wash them well and drain again, and cook in the pressure cooker or saucepan.
- To make them in the pressure cooker/Instant Pot: Add beans, bay leaves, salt, and 2 1/2 cups water. Pressure cook for 50 minutes on bean mode.
- To make them in the pan: Add beans, bay leaves, salt, and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, partially cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the beans are soft. Add water, as needed, if the pan looks dry. The beans are ready when they are soft, and you can easily squish a bean between your fingers.
- Once cooked, mash some of the beans with a spatula or potato masher to help thicken the sauce.
Make the base sauce.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add 2 teaspoon of the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook until they change color significantly, 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your stove. Then, add the black cardamom, green cardamoms, and whole cloves. Cook for 15 seconds, then mix in the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Mix in the ginger and green chili, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, break your cinnamon stick in half and use tongs to hold it over a gas flame until one edge of it catches fire. Let it burn for just a second, then blow it out, and mix it into the onions for smoky flavor. Stir in Kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, and a splash of water to prevent burning.Mix in the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes, then crumble in the fenugreek leaves. Cook 4 to 5 minutes until they get jammy, mashing the larger pieces to help them break down. Mix in the beans with any leftover cooking liquid, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 to 20 minutes (longer is better!). If it feels like there is too much cooking liquid, reserve the extra, and you can add it later, if needed. Taste and adjust salt and flavor, if needed.
- Stir in 1/4 cup of water or reserved bean liquid to cool the pan slightly, then mix in the non-dairy cream or yogurt. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more. Taste and adjust the flavor with salt, cayenne, or lemon juice, if needed. Switch off the heat, and make the spiced oil.
Make the spiced oil.
- In a small skillet over medium. heat, dry toast the fenugreek leaves until they become fragrant or change color, about a minute. Add the vegan butter, Kashmiri chili powder, and smoked paprika. As soon as the butter melts, add in a tablespoon of water and reduce the heat to low. Water help keeps the Kashmiri chili powder from burning and help retains that beautiful red color. Burn one edge of the remaining cinnamon stick the same way you did the other one, and add it to the pan, mixing well. Switch off the heat.
Serve the dal makhani.
- Pour the spiced oil over the dal and lightly mix in. Garnish with more non-dairy cream, cilantro, and lemon juice, and this delicious dal makhani is ready to serve. Serve hot with rice, naan, flatbread, garlic bread, baked potato, or roasted veggies.
Video
Notes
Cook time is for the Instant Pot method.
Do not add the rest of the whole spices to the sauce mixture at the same time as the cumin seeds, because the other spices will burn before the cumin seeds toast well.
You want to partially open the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle or with a knife, but make sure you don’t lose the seeds. Opening the pods allows the flavor from the seeds to infuse the oil and the sauce.
Adding the garlic at the same time as the onion allows it to get a really deep, roasted flavor. It won’t burn, because the salt will cause the onion to release moisture as it cooks with the garlic.
For the tomato base, I use canned tomato puree (passata). This is different from tomato paste. In some countries, tomato paste is labeled as tomato puree, so be sure you’re using the one that’s a pourable mixture of thickened, blended tomatoes. If you don’t have it, just puree fresh tomatoes and cook them a little longer until thickened and roasted and the mixture looks glossy.
Storage
Leftover dal makhani will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but you should make the spiced oil fresh before serving. This also freezes well for up to 6 months. Reheat in the microwave or skillet, and add fresh spiced oil just before garnishing and serving.
This recipe is naturally gluten-free. It is soy-free and nut-free as long as you choose soy-free and/or nut-free non-dairy cream and vegan butter.
Oil free
Toast the spices in a dry skillet for the base sauce, then add stock instead of oil. For the spiced oil, toast the spices and add chili powder, paprika, salt, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of water instead of butter.
Substitutions
If using canned kidney beans instead of dry, add 1 cup of cooked kidney beans to the base sauce w/ the black urad beans.
Other lentils
You can use brown lentils, green mung beans, caviar lentils and cook them in the instant pot for 10-20 minutes depending on the lentil. Or in the sauce pan for 25-45 minutes. And then add the cooked lentils to the base sauce per the recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 482mg | Potassium: 564mg | Fiber: 16g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 882IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 6mg