Dal Makhani

I wasn't particularly fond of Dal Makhani (have on many occasions tasted bad ones) until we went to Mast Kalandar-a North Indian vegetarian food chain popular here in Bangalore. Rj orders for the meal option Phindi Chole almost every time we go there. Along with Chole n' Roti comes this really tiny bowl of Dal Makhani n' I love the texture n' the taste. Its just so so creamy. So I decided if they could make it taste this good, I could at least try making it at home.... :)


I had two choices for recipes to follow, one was from the book Learn to Cook by Nita Mehta and the other option was to follow Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe. As I was about to start cooking, Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe won by a thin margin coz Nita Mehta's recipe called for 'jaiphal powder' as one of the ingredients and I had no clue what that was. Only after I finished cooking did I get a chance to google that....n' found that she just meant Nutmeg Powder...lol

Although my intention is not to specialize on Sanjeev Kapoor recipes, I might just end up doing that at this rate. So here you go...:)


Ingredients:

1. Whole Black Gram or Urad Dal: 1/2 cup
2. Red Kidney Beans or Rajma: 2 tbsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Red chili powder: 1 tsp
5. Ginger: 2 inch piece (chopped)
6. Butter: 3 tbsp
7. Oil: 1 tbsp
8. Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
9. Garlic: 6 cloves (chopped)
10.Onion : 1 large (chopped)
11.Green chillies: 2 (slit into 2)
12.Tomatoes: 2 medium (chopped)
13.Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
14.Water: as required for cooking

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak sabut urad and rajma overnight in three cups of water. Drain.

Step 2: Pressure cook sabut urad and rajma in three cups of water with salt and half the red chili powder (you can add half the ginger too if you wish) for three whistles. Open the lid and see if the rajma is totally soft. If not cook on low heat till the rajma becomes totally soft.

Step 3: When they begin to change colour, add ginger, garlic and onion and sauté till golden.

Step 4: Add slit green chillies, tomatoes and sauté on high heat. Add the remaining red chili powder and sauté till the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp.

Step 5: Heat butter and oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Add the cooked dal and rajma along with the cooking liquid. Add some water if the mixture is too thick.

Step 6: Add garam masala powder and adjust the salt. Simmer on low heat till the dals are totally soft and well blended. Serve hot.

Best served with rice and roti. I think this recipe is little less richer than the ones which asks for cream as an ingredient and I would call this a really easy recipe. Another surprising thing about this recipe and the Rajma Recipe is that it tastes even better when served the next day. :) Happy cooking!