The best Dal Makhani recipe is today's share. 'Dal Makhani' or 'Dal Makhni' is a traditional recipe from Northern India. It is a delicious gravy made with mixed lentils, namely whole black gram lentils and red kidney beans. The whole black gram lentil is the star ingredient that gives this dish its unique and delicious taste. The trick to getting it cooked to perfection is based on how thoroughly the lentils are pressure or slow-cooked.
Why you'll love this dish?
- A healthy and nutritious dish rich in proteins, and fibers, and great for vegetarians.
- Goes well with wheat bread like rotis or rice.
- Tastes rich, creamy, and delicious with a perfect blend of spices.
- Simple to make and needs a few ingredients that are always in your pantry.
Ingredients you will need:
- Kidney beans and Blackgram dal pressure-cooked and mashed
- Onions, Tomatoes, and green chilies
- Whole Spices like cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamom, bay leaves
- Powdered spices Kashmiri chilly powder, dried mango powder, garam masala, nutmeg powder
- Low-fat cream
- Dried fenugreek leaves
How to make the best Dal Makhani Gravy?
It is a myth that you need to load the dish with butter or cream. Cook the lentils very well, to get the creamy texture automatically for this dish. You should be able to easily mash it with the back of your ladle or spoon. Either slow-cook or pressure-cook to get the desired consistency.
Once you have the lentils cooked, sautee the onions, green chilies, and tomatoes with all the spices and cook until you get a nice creamy consistency. Add fenugreek leaves and cream. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
You can add a little cream and butter to enhance the taste of this dish. However, if you are conscious of the calories, you can go light on the butter and cream. This dish is loaded with proteins, carbohydrates, and fibers which is good for growing kids and adults as well. If you prefer simple dals you can also try my Phiki dal recipe which is quite simple and popular
Dal Makhni - A delicious gravy with mixed lentils, butter and cream
Ingredients
- ¾ cup black lentil whole soaked over night
- ¼ cup kidney beans soaked over night
- 2 green chillies
- 2 medium tomatoes pureed
- 1 large onion
- 1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 inch ginger cut length wise
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 cloves
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 1 whole black cardamom
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilly powder
- ¼ tsp dried mango powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- ⅓ cup low fat cream
- 1 tsp dried fenu greek leaves
- 3 tbsp butter or oil
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ cup coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Wash and soak the lentils in plenty of water overnight or for about 8 hours.
- Pressure cook the soaked lentils , ginger , bay leaves, cardamom with salt and water for about 20 whistles.
- Heat up a deep bottomed pan .Melt the butter and add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon to it.
- Add chopped onions and sautee level.
- Add ginger garlic paste and sautee well
- Add the pureed tomatoes and cook till oil leaves the sides of the pan.
- Add the Kashmiri chilly powder, dry mango powder , nutmeg powder and garam masala powder.
- Add the cooked lentils into this spice mixture.
- Mix well and add a little water to get a flowing consistency.
- Cook for about 20 minutes on low flame .
- Add the cream , dried fenu greek leaves and chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve with rotis or rice .
Nutrition
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Looks delicious Nisha. 🙂
Thank you Lorelle, it was indeed delicious!
Looks creamy and so delicious! Awesome share Nisha
Thank you Smitha . The creamy texture is the highlight of this dish and it was indeed tasty!
Looks yummylicious Nisha!❤️❤️
Thanks a lot Richa!
Yummmy
Thanks a lot Deepa 🙏
It looks delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Thank you so much or stopping by and the comments! Glad you like it .
Looks delicious!!! Yummy
Thank you so much for the comments!
Lovely dal, it looks so beautiful & delicious.
Thanks for the fantastic visual treats. 🙂
Thanks a lot Megala for the comments, appreciate it!
I'm a huge fan of lentils so this is definitely a recipe I'd love to try! It looks delicious 🙂
This is a great dish for lentil lovers and you will definitely love it . Thank you 🙏
One of my most favorite Dal...very comforting and pleasing to palate...looks damn tempting Nisha and I justtt love with jeera rice😊
Rightly said Jyo it is definitely comfort food that tastes so good .Jeera rice is a great combination with it ! Thank you so much for the comments!