Dal Makhani aka Maa ki Dal - Punjabi Cuisine

After a hat-trick of sweet recipes, I thought I should post something spicy for a change. I am at my mom's place right now and she won't let me cook anything elaborate, so I browsed through my Drafts and found this one waiting to be beautified and posted :-)

I had made this months ago when I had invited some friends home for lunch on a Sunday.  Dal Makhani is a sumptuous dish full of nutrition from dals/lentils and the cream on top to finish just makes this a super-hit with everyone! :-)  It goes very well with both rice and roti varieties alike. I generally make a simple Garlic Rice or Jeera Rice and they make a good pair.

Dal Makhani

Let me take you through a pictorial first :-)

Rajma and Black whole Urad dal soaked in water overnight

Tadka with butter, zeera and red chillies

Onions fried

Tomatoes mushed up

Add spices, cooked dal and finish with cream :-)

What I Used -

Rajma / Red Bean- 1/2 cup

Whole Black Urad Dal - 3/4 cup

Onions - 1 medium

Tomatoes - 2 medium (Using additional Tomato puree greatly enhances the taste)

Fresh Cream - 4 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Spices To Temper - Tadka - Thalikka -

Butter - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 4

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric / Haldi - 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp (I used Kashmiri variety for a rich color)  

Dhania powder / coriander powder - 3/4 tsp

Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom spice mix - 3/4 tsp (you can get them pre-made from your Indian store or powder them yourself using your dry spice grinder)

Kitchen King Masala - 3/4 tsp

Salt - taste

How To -

• Soak the lentils overnight with enough water. Drain the water and pressure-cook the dals with sufficient (fresh) water for 4-5 whistles (It's okay to over-cook than to under-cook the lentils) .You could add salt as well. Wait for the pressure to get released naturally.
• Take a kadai, melt butter and add jeera. When they crackle, add red chillies and then add ginger-garlic paste.
• Add finely sliced/chopped onions and let them turn brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and let them turn mushy.
• Add the spice powders - turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, kitchne king and the cardamom-cinnamom-cloves spice mix.
• Add the water/ stock from the cooked dal and then slowly add the lentils and lower the flame. Let the dals absorb the flavors form the masalas. Close with a lid for about 5-7 minutes.
• Tip : I like to mash up about 4 tbsp of cooked dal and then add to the gravy. This gives thickness to the gravy and also a good flavor to Dal Makhani as such :-)

• Check for salt.
• Add cream and mix well and you can see the gravy coming together as a thick, creamy mixture :-)
• Serve hot. You could add another tablespoon of cream just before serving! :-)

Isn't it inviting ??