Daal Makhni

Basically an Indian recipe but liked by many people in Pakistan too. My grand parents migrated to Pakistan (Punjab) from India (Punjab) during partition, so my you can well imagine our cooking style is pretty much the same as that of Indian Punjab. As far as I can remember my mother also used to make  the same kind of daal but instead of using red kidney beans she always used another type of lentils which I can’t recall right now and she never used to add cream in it. Dal makhni goes very well with naans or boiled rice.  

Ingredients:

1 cup whole urad daal/sabut mash ki daal

1 cup rajma/red kidney beans

¼ cup ghee/oil

2 medium onions (chopped finely)

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3 medium tomatoes (pureed)

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chili powder

½ tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp Salt

2-3 green chilies (chopped in to thick chunks)

2-3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 

4 tbsp cream

3 tbsp butter

Method:

1)      Wash the beans and daal under cold running water until water runs clear. Soak them in water for 8 hours or overnight. To boil the beans and daal first discard the water then transfer soaked beans in to a pan, add 5-6 cups of water and bring the beans to a boil, and then lower the heat and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the beans are tender.

2)       Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat and cumin seeds, once they start to splutter add the onions, fry till onions turns light golden in colour. It will take about 4-5 minutes.

3)       Add in ginger garlic paste, mix well and cook it for a minute. Add the pureed tomatoes turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt. Fry it well adding a few splashes of water when needed.

4)       Once the masala is done (the raw smell of masala has gone) add the beans and daal  along with the water they were boiled in, and if needed you can add some more water in.  Mix well, lower the heat and cook it for further20 -30 minutes. Mash some of the beans and daal to thicken the gravy to a lovely consistency. (Stir in between to make sure gravy doesn’t stick to bottom.) Please adjust the consistency according to your desire.

5)      After 20-30 minutes add in the garam masla, dhania powder, chopped green chilies, cream, butter and coriander powder and chopped fresh coriander, cover for 4-5 more minutes and then turn off the heat.