Dal Makhani
Black lentils soaked overnight and simmered for hours until they turn glossy. Butter and cream at the end, not the start.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 3h 30m
- Waiting
- 8h
- Total
- 11h 45m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Moderate
Scale
Units
Method
| 1 cup | 1 Soak overnight, then drain 8h | 4 Add the drained lentils and water, bring to a simmer 10m | 5 Simmer very low for 3 hours, mashing against the side occasionally 3h The long cook is what makes it glossy. There is no fast version of this dish. | 6 Stir in the butter and cream over low heat, 10 minutes 10m Dairy at the end. Added early it splits over three hours of simmering. | ||
| 1/4 cup | ||||||
| 3 tbsp | 2 Fry the aromatics 8m | 3 Cook the masala until the oil separates 20m Wait for the oil to pool at the edges — that is the signal the base is done. | ||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||||
| 200 g | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 1.2 l | ||||||
| 4 tbsp | ||||||
| 1/2 cup | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
- 1
Soak overnight, then drain
8h- whole black urad dal 1 cup
- kidney beans 1/4 cup
- 2
Fry the aromatics
8m- ghee 3 tbsp
- onion 1
- ginger-garlic paste 2 tbsp
- 3
Cook the masala until the oil separates
20m- from 2 Fry the aromatics
- tomato purée 3 tbsp
- tinned tomatoes 200 g
- Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tsp
- ground cumin 1 tsp
- salt 2 tsp
Wait for the oil to pool at the edges — that is the signal the base is done.
- 4
Add the drained lentils and water, bring to a simmer
10m- from 1 Soak overnight, then drain
- from 3 Cook the masala until the oil separates
- water 1.2 l
- 5
Simmer very low for 3 hours, mashing against the side occasionally
3h- from 4 Add the drained lentils and water, bring to a simmer
The long cook is what makes it glossy. There is no fast version of this dish.
- 6
Stir in the butter and cream over low heat, 10 minutes
10m- from 5 Simmer very low for 3 hours, mashing against the side occasionally
- unsalted butter 4 tbsp
- double cream 1/2 cup
- garam masala 1 tsp
- kasuri methi 1 tsp
Dairy at the end. Added early it splits over three hours of simmering.
Three hours is the recipe
Whole urad dal keeps its skin, and that skin takes a long time to soften. What you are waiting for is not just tenderness but the slow release of starch that gives dal makhani its distinctive gloss and body. At ninety minutes it is a decent lentil stew; at three hours it is a different dish.
Notes
- Soak overnight, without exception. Unsoaked whole urad can simmer for five hours and still be chalky.
- Mash some against the side of the pot as you go. That releases starch faster.
- Kasuri methi crushed between your palms at the end is what makes it taste like a restaurant version.