Standard dals tend to have a yellow or orange color, using red or yellow lentils. I had a bag of Urid Dal lying around waiting to be used up. I have never made Dal Makhani, but I looked it up and found that the lentil that fits the recipe is urid (or urad). Urid dal is sometimes described as creamy or even sticky. (It's amazing how many cultures, especially Africans, love their gooey food.)
A spoonful of urid/urad dal is often 'sweetened' added to Indian dishes to add texture and nutrition. For example, I love lemon rice.
I soaked half a packet overnight. I need to add kidney beans, but I didn't have any. Dal Makhani tastes best when cooked very slowly, which is not a good use of time in restaurants. When cooked slowly, the addition of cream and butter increases the viscosity of the dish and makes it more delicious.
The word ‘Makhani’ means butter in Punjabi. Adding tomatoes and cream to black dal transforms it into a hearty banquet dish.
As for the ginger and garlic, I bought frozen cubes from a corner store in India. It’s perfect to keep a bag in the freezer!
You can make this dish in a pressure cooker, but it's a little scary.
moon makhani
ingredient
- 250 g Urid dal, whole, split, white or black, soaked overnight.
- Ginger's Thumb
- One chili
- One tablespoon Turmeric powder or whole fresh root
- 50 g ghee
- 100 g butter
- One chopped brown onion
- One cube Garlic and ginger, frozen or fresh
- 150 milliliter Tomato Passed
- 2 tablespoon Garum Masala Powder
- One bay leaves
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 5 green cardamom pods
- large in size make cynical Fenugreek leaves, crushed
- 400 milliliter vegetable broth
- salt to taste
To serve:
- One teaspoon liquid smoke
- 100 milliliter Cream, double or single
- Serve more butter
guideline
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After soaking the dal, boil it in a heavy pot of water over low heat for several hours until soft. Add ginger, turmeric and red pepper to the pot.
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Adjust seasoning. Heat the ghee and butter in a separate pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft.
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Add garlic, ginger, and spices and fry for about 5 minutes.
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Add the tomato passata and fry, stirring, for 5 to 10 minutes.
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Mash one-third of the lentils and add both whole and mashed lentils to the pot. Add vegetable stock. Cook over low heat for at least one hour.
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Check seasoning periodically and add salt if necessary.
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Add liquid smoke and cream.
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Add a dollop of butter when serving. Served with Indian flatbread, rice or yogurt.
A few notes:
Since I live alone, I put a little bit of it in the freezer to eat later. This dish takes a long time to cook, so it's handy to have defrostable/microwavable portions on hand.
You can turn it into a soup by adding more water (or coconut milk) to loosen it up. Dal is a name that is halfway between stew and soup. Everyone likes their months to have different consistency.
For tempering, fry a few mustard seeds and a whole chilli using ghee/butter/mustard seed oil/coconut oil and then add a scoop of Urid dal. Similar to adding croutons.
I didn't have enough leaves, so I used fenugreek seeds instead of leaves. When fenugreek is tempered, its bitter taste bursts out, which is good for the body.
Liquid smoke may be an unusual ingredient for you, but if you want that smoky flavor, it's a good one to have in your pantry. The proper way to make this with Dal Makhani is to stand a metal cup in the pot, add hot wood charcoal pieces, then pour over the butter and cover the pot. This will give your dish a smoky flavor. Liquid Smoke is a cheat way to do this. Otherwise, you can make this dal on a barbecue, especially a Green Egg type of barbecue. In this case, the moon acquires a smoky atmosphere.
As a butter lover, don't skimp on butter!