International kitchen

Dal Makhani (Black Gram with Cream)

Name: Dal Makhani (Black Gram with Cream)
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 1 cup whole dried urad dal (skinless black gram); ⅓ cup dried kidney beans (rajma); 5–6 cups water (to cook dal); Salt; Red chile powder (according to taste); 1 tsp turmeric powder; 1 tbsp grated ginger; 3–4 tbsp ghee or oil; 1 large pinch of hing powder (asafoetida); 2 bay leaves; ½ cinnamon stick; 3 cloves; 1 medium onion (optional), finely chopped; 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste; 2–3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped; 2 tsp coriander powder; ½ cup fresh cream; 1 tbsp clarified butter; 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional); Salt, to taste

Cuisine of India Dal makhani is a delicacy from Punjab, India. Traditionally this dal was cooked slowly, for hours, on charcoal. This gave it a creamy texture. It had ‘malai’ (cream) or fresh butter added to it. When cooked at home these days, more moderate amounts of cream or butter are used. When prepared in restaurants, it is cooked slowly on low heat and

Dal Makhani (Black Gram with Cream) prepared recipe

PrepNot statedCook20 minServes4LevelAdvanced

Cook with confidence

Before you start

A quick setup makes the method easier to follow and keeps important steps from being missed.

Preparation checklist

Read all 9 method steps from beginning to end.
Measure and arrange all 20 listed ingredients.
Set aside about 20 minutes, based on the time recorded by the source.

Recipe notes & preparation tips

You can substitute cream with sour cream or low-fat yogurt.

Use olive oil instead of ghee or butter, and omit cream.

You can make this recipe in a slow cooker, but make sure that you boil it briskly in a pan for the last 10 minutes, to neutralise the toxins in kidney beans.

This dal generally requires more salt than usual for other dal, so it should be added as per taste.

Soaking the beans overnight reduces cooking time.

Adapted from the source recipe's notes.

Step by step

Method

01
Wash and soak black urad dal and red kidney beans overnight in an adequate amount of lukewarm water.
02
Cook the soaked dal, kidney beans, and chickpeas in 5–6 cups of water with the salt, red chili powder, turmeric, and grated ginger until soft.
03
Keep the cooked dal aside.
04
Heat oil or butter in a thick bottomed pan. Add hing, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, and chopped onions and cook until light golden brown in color. When the onion turns brown, add ginger garlic paste, and sauté.
05
Add chopped tomatoes. Sauté and add coriander powder. Sauté until tomatoes are well mashed.
06
Add cooked dal and water as needed.
07
Mix it well and simmer for 15–20 minutes.
08
Add fresh cream and clarified butter, and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.
09
Serve hot with naan, paratha or rice.

Ready to serve

Serve the dish as directed and enjoy it while it is at its best.

Bon appétit — enjoy your meal!

Transparent sourcing

Source & licence

This recipe was adapted and reformatted from Wikibooks Cookbook . Text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Image: CC BY-SA 4.0, credited to Radhikamprabhu82; view original image record .