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| How to Make Dal Makhani |
Dal Makhani is a rich, creamy and popular Punjabi dish made with slow-cooked black lentils (urad dal) and kidney beans (rajma), simmered with butter, cream and aromatic spices, creating a luscious, smoky-flavored delicacy best enjoyed with roti, paratha or rice. There are some dishes that represent Punjabi cuisine, like none other and Dal Makhani is one of them. This Dal Makhani Recipe is a restaurant style version with subtle smoky flavors and creaminess of the lentils. If you are a fan of North Indian food and those lovely Punjabi flavors in your food, then you are going to love this makhani dal even more.
About Dal Makhani
Like I said in the beginning, the Dal Makhani is that quintessential Punjabi dish that you really can’t get enough of, ever. Once your palate gets a taste of it, its going to keep longing for more and more.
And why not? When whole black lentils and kidney beans are cooked in a spiced onion-tomato base, with generous amounts of butter and cream; the dish is bound to be decadent.
Yes, it is calorie laden too. But then, there’s no harm in consuming such binge-worthy food once a while. We all have our cheat days and I’m quite sure that this flavorful and creamy Dal Makhani Recipe is a perfect fit for such days.
Also, after eating a meal of this rich dal, do not forget to burn those extra calories by exercising a bit more or running for a longer time!
It is also one of the most popular lentil recipes from North Indian Punjabi cuisine and is made with whole black lentils (urad dal or kali dal in Hindi) and kidney beans (rajma in Hindi).
Now, you might be wondering what exactly is the origin of the Dal Makhani? According to food historians, the Dal Makhani Recipe is believed to be an invention of Punjabi Hindu migrants from Peshawar, named Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi.
They are the ones who are associated with the invention of butter chicken too. The vegetarian makhani dal was created to complement this non-vegetarian dish.
Why This Dal Makhani Recipe Works
Before I list out and explain to you the beauty of this recipe of Dal Makhani, let me tell you that it is one of our most reviewed recipes on the blog, even till the present day.
This dish never seems to get old! It has been made by many of our readers and they have absolutely loved and endorsed it. It also happens to be my most shared recipe on social media.
For this Dal Makhani Recipe, I have used a pressure cooker to cook the lentils, but I have also explained the method of cooking the dal in a pan or pot in the notes section of the recipe card.
I have also shared my Expert Tips and Frequently Asked Questions by our readers on this recipe, below. In the FAQ section, I have also shared the method of preparing Instant Pot Dal Makhani. But for a detailed step-by-step recipe with photos, kindly refer to my Instant Pot Dal Makhani recipe.
So, here are all those essential elements that make this Dal Makhani Recipe, one of the best ones and a STAR:
Whole Spices
The variety of aromatic whole spices that are used in this Dal Makhani Recipe, make it more flavorful. In my experimentation with this dish earlier, I remember making it without whole spices many times and hoping to get a restaurant-like flavor and texture in the lentils. But it never matched, and my experiments continued.
When we were residing in Goa, we used to have Dal Makhani in a restaurant (and it was one of their best dishes) at the quiet and serene Benaulim beach. I once found a black cardamom and clove in their version. I thought, maybe it is these spices that impart a lovely aroma and flavor in the dal.
Thereafter, I tried the makhani dal many times by adding whole spices and realized that they do actually add a good flavor and faint aroma to the dish. But I still felt, something was missing.
Butter & Cream
The answer to the above was cream and butter. These two ingredients made the whole difference in the Dal Makhani Recipe. Thus, I kept on experimenting and when I was also testing the recipe of Dal Bukhara, I realized it was the cream and butter bringing in the desired richness, apart from the slow cooking.
Dal Makhani is a rich dish, and the fats in the form of butter and cream help in achieving that richness. Many recipes do have a large quantity of these two ingredients added in it. However, in my recipe, the amount of butter and cream is just enough to lift the dish to the required richness.
You can make a Dal Makhani with even lesser quantities of butter and cream. Just remember to slow cook it for a longer period of time, to get the real deal sealed!
Slow Cooking
It is the gospel truth about the perfect Dal Makhani Recipe: The more you slow cook it, the better it tastes. Most Indian restaurants specializing in authentic North Indian food simmer their Dal Makhani overnight or for many hours.
Basically, it is the slow cooking of the lentils, which makes a world of difference to the consistency of the dish, on the whole. The lentils are slow cooked in a tandoor. The tandoor is a cylindrical shaped oven made of clay.
The fire in the tandoor comes from lit charcoal or wood. Overnight simmering of the Dal Makhani also brings in some smokiness in the dish, from the charcoal or wood.
In most Indian homes, you will not find tandoor. But you will easily find a stovetop pressure cooker. The fastest way to cook the lentils is in a pressure cooker. In this post, I have used a stovetop pressure cooker, but you can cook the dal in an Instant Pot too.
I have cooked the lentils and beans in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes. Later, I have slow cooked them on low heat for 25 minutes.
You can slow cook for more time, than what I have done. It will only make the lentils viscous, creamy and the end result will be a finger-licking Dal Makhani Recipe.
For that restaurant style taste, smoky aroma and flavor is the key. As I have mentioned above, this smokiness in the makhani dal comes from slow simmering and cooking this dal on wooden or charcoal fires or embers.
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