🫘 Dal Makhani

6 servings · prep 15 min + 10 h de trempage · cook 2 h

Ingredients

• 250 g whole black lentils (urad dal)
• 70 g dried kidney beans
• 100 g butter
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp garlic-ginger paste
• 300 g chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
• 200 ml cream
• Salt

Method

1. Soak the lentils and kidney beans TOGETHER for 10 to 12 h. This is not optional: without soaking, the beans stay hard long after the lentils have turned to mush.
2. Cook them in 2 litres of salted water for 1 h 15 to 1 h 30, until a lentil crushes effortlessly between two fingers.
3. Crush about a third of the lentils against the side of the pan with a spoon: it is that released starch that thickens, not flour.
4. Separately, melt 60 g butter, cook the onion in it 10 min, add the garlic-ginger and chilli, then the tomatoes; reduce 10 min until the butter rises to the top.
5. Combine everything and simmer over VERY low heat for 30 to 40 min, stirring often. That length IS the recipe: it is what makes the dal creamy, not the cream.
6. Crumble the fenugreek between your palms, add the garam masala.
7. Off the heat, stir in the cream and the remaining 40 g of butter. Even better reheated the next day.

Adapted from Punjab

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