Dal Makhani
Black lentils and kidney beans simmered slowly with tomato, butter and cream. The dish comes from Punjabi cooking and was made famous in Delhi, and its flavour only gets better with time.
Method
Four steps · soak overnightSoak
Rinse the lentils and beans and soak them in plenty of cold water overnight.
Boil
Drain and rinse. Cover with 1.5 litres of fresh water and boil vigorously for at least 10 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer under a lid for about 1 hour, until both lentils and beans are completely soft.
Make the base
Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion until golden. Add the garlic and ginger, then the cumin and chilli powder. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, until the butter starts to separate.
Simmer together
Stir the tomato base into the lentils and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring often. Lightly mash some of the lentils against the side of the pot. Stir in the cream, garam masala and crushed kasoori methi, and season with salt.
Our tips
Dried kidney beans must always be soaked and boiled vigorously for at least 10 minutes. Undercooked, they can make you ill.
Long, slow cooking is what gives the creamy texture, so add a splash of water rather than turning up the heat.
Dal Makhani tastes even better the next day. Add a little water when you reheat it.
Finish with a spoonful of cream and a small piece of butter on top.
A lighter version
Fewer calories, same dishReduce the butter from 50 g to 15 g.
Use cooking cream, 15%, instead of whipping cream. Simmer gently after adding it, so that it does not split.
Skip the extra cream and butter on top, and finish with a spoonful of natural yoghurt, 2%.
With all the swaps, about 290 kcal per portion instead of about 405 kcal (estimate). The sauce gets a little less rich.
- Energy
- about 405 kcal
- Protein
- about 15 g
- Fat
- about 21 g
- Carbohydrates
- about 39 g
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