This Indian lentil Daal is a favorite and a staple in every north Indian home to street eatery to fine restaurants worldwide. Made with black lentils, butter, lots of tomatoes and spices it’s comforting, creamy, smoky and delicious with rice or any Indian flatbread.
I tweaked the recipe slightly and used French Puy lentils to achieve the creaminess without the use of butter and cream. I think the results are comparable. The trick is to slow cook the lentils so they break down and the starch renders a smooth creamy texture. Feel free add butter, cream or coconut cream if you’re short of time or prefer the traditional recipe.
Makhani Daal
MAKES 6-8 servings( freezes really well)
- 300g whole black Urad dal or puy French lentils ( soaking time differs)
- 50g red or pink kidney beans
- 4 cups water for soaking
- 2 tablespoons butter + more for finishing
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic about 1.5 tablespoon minced
- One thumb sized about 1.5 tablespoon freshly ginger minced
- 400g tomatoes, fresh chopped or bottled
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground garam masala
- 1/2-1 teaspoon ground hot cayenne or any hot chilli powder, (use as much to your heat tolerance)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Upto 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup cream or coconut cream (totally optional)
- Garnish
- 1/2 inch ginger piece, julienned
- handful of fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons whipped cream of your choice (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash several times and soak the lentils and kidney beans in plenty of water overnight. If using Puy lentils 1 hour should be enough.
- Next day in a large pot cook the kidney bean and lentil for 2 hours till kidney beans is soft. Alternately if you own a pressure cooker cook the beans and lentils in a pressure cooker till soft. (Check the cooker manual for cooking times of kidney beans, lentils cook faster but give a soft creamy texture so don’t worry about the cooking times for lentils)
- Warm the oil in a large sauce pan. Sauté onion, garlic, ginger on medium heat for 7-8 minutes until onion is caramelized. Add turmeric, coriander, cumin, garam masala and paprika. Sauté for a couple of minutes until spices are aromatic.
- Add the tomatoes and salt. Mix well. Cover and slow cook on low for about 45 minutes to a hour. The consistency of the dal should be creamy like oatmeal. If it is too thick add half a cup of water to thin out the dal. It’s natural for the Daal to thicken as it cools.
- Served garnished with julienned ginger, cream, and cilantro.
Do you drain the beans of water after cooking? And at what point do you mix the lentils and beans with the tomato onion mixture?
Hi Tanya, I don’t drain the water, I add it to the dal as needed to thin it out. Add the cooked lentils once the tomato mixture has cooked slightly and reduced. hope that helps. Thank you.
Hi Christine, Sorry its corrected now. Add the cream right at the end and heat it through. The cream is optional. Hope that helps. thanks