Dal Makhani

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Dal Makhani is a vegetarian version of butter chicken made with urad dal, legumes that are sometimes called black lentils but are not actually lentils. It has so much fiber and is relatively hands-off. This version doesn't taste like something you'd get at a restaurant, but it's still tasty, filling, and freezes super well! You can add chicken (or, my favorite, paneer) to it too.

I use Swasthi's Recipes' dal makhani recipe as the basis for this and cut a lot of corners to make it more manageable. This version uses an Instant Pot since that's how I cook lentils while maintaining sanity, but there are stovetop and pressure cooker directions on the original recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/200g Urad dal (found at Indian and some Asian grocers)
  • 1 can of kidney beans, drained
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 white or yellow onion, diced
  • At least 1 inch ginger, grated
  • At least 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup/220g tomato puree
  • 1 cup/240mL vegetable broth or water
  • Dal makhani or butter chicken spice mix (ideally MDH or another Indian brand)
  • Garam masala, to taste
  • Salt, to taste
  • Heavy cream or half and half, to taste
  • More butter, to taste

Directions

  1. TO BE DONE THE NIGHT BEFORE: Wash the dal a few times, then soak them in 4 cups of water overnight (use a lot of water so they have room to grow)
  2. Drain the dal, then add them to the Instant Pot with 4 more cups of water. Pressure cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally. After this, they should be mushy.
  3. In a large pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic, and cook until the onions become translucent. It's fine if the butter browns and sticks to the pan a little.
  4. Add the tomato puree and a liberal amount (at least 2 teaspoons) of spice mix. Stir and let saute for a few more minutes.
  5. Add the cooked dal, drained kidney beans, and broth (or water) to the pot and mix everything together. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer.
  6. Let the curry cook for about 2 more hours, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add more broth or water as needed if the curry is too thick.
  7. Test the curry and add more spice mix, garam masala, and/or salt to taste. You can mash the lentils with a spoon here if you want.
  8. Add cream as desired (a normal amount is about 1/4 to 1/3 cup or 60 to 80 mL), mix, and let the curry cook for another 10 minutes.
  9. Turn off the heat and finish with more butter as desired.
  10. I like to let the curry cool for a little bit so it thickens before eating. Serve over rice or with naan.

Notes

I have tried this with dried kidney beans (as written in the original recipe) but found that they were too firm for my liking even after soaking overnight and cooking with the dal for a while. If I used dried beans again, I would cook them separately while the dal is in the pressure cooker.

You can freeze this with or without the cream in it. I haven't had any issues freezing it with the cream added.