Dal Makhani (Black Gram with Cream)
Dal makhani is a delicacy from Punjab, India. Traditionally this dal was cooked slowly, for hours, on charcoal. This gave it a creamy texture. It had ‘malai’ (cream) or fresh butter added to it. When cooked at home these days, more moderate amounts of cream or butter are used. When prepared in restaurants, it is cooked slowly on low heat and often has a large amount of cream and butter added. Lentils and beans were…
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole dried urad dal (skinless black gram)
- ⅓ cup dried kidney beans (rajma)
- 5–6 cups water (to cook dal)
- Salt
- Red chile powder (according to taste)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 3–4 tbsp ghee or oil
- 1 large pinch of hing powder (asafoetida)
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 1 medium onion (optional), finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2–3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- ½ cup fresh cream
- 1 tbsp clarified butter
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
- Salt, to taste
Steps
- Wash the black urad dal and red kidney beans. Soak overnight in lukewarm water.
- Cook the soaked dal, kidney beans and chickpeas in 5–6 cups water with the salt, red chili powder, turmeric and grated ginger until soft.
- Set the cooked dal aside.
- Heat oil or butter in a thick-bottomed pan. Add hing, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves and chopped onions. Cook until light golden brown.
- Add the ginger garlic paste. Sauté.
- Add the chopped tomatoes. Sauté. Add the coriander powder. Sauté until the tomatoes are well mashed.
- Add the cooked dal and water as needed. Mix well. Simmer 15–20 minutes.
- Add the fresh cream and clarified butter. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with naan, paratha or rice.
Notes from the original
- You can substitute cream with sour cream or low-fat yogurt.
- Use olive oil instead of ghee or butter, and omit cream.
- You can make this recipe in a slow cooker, but make sure that you boil it briskly in a pan for the last 10 minutes, to neutralise the toxins in kidney beans.
- This dal generally requires more salt than usual for other dal, so it should be added as per taste.
- Soaking the beans overnight reduces cooking time.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Dal Makhani (Black Gram with Cream)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Punjabi style Dal Makhani.jpg by Radhikamprabhu82, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.