Daal Makhani

I must admit, it took me a while to making this daal. I was always intimidated by the copious amounts of butter the recipe required. After improvising, substituting and experimenting, I concluded that there was no substitute to the butter. Either swallow the bullet and make the daal the way it should be, or just make a tepid version but then don’t call it daal makhani. I do however try to get maximum bang for my buck by adding the butter at the very end. This requires less butter than actually using it when you cook the ginger, garlic and tomatoes.
The quantity of tomatoes makes all the difference. This recipe calls for five tomatoes and the result is a creamy tangy reddish daal. However, you can get a meatier taste if you ease on tomatoes but that would be a different daal all together.


1 cup black whole urad
1/3 cup rajma
1/3 cup black chana

Soak the above dals overnight. In a pressure cook, steam for 1-2 whistles with salt and water.

Blend the following together

5 tomatoes
5 fat cloves of garlic
1 “piece of ginger
Two green chillies

Take some oil in a wok. When it is hot add cumin seeds. After they splutter add the tomato paste and reduce it till it is pulpy and thick. Should take 15- 20 mins. After around 10 minutes, add red chilly powder, turmeric, and coriander powder.

Now add the daal.

Cook for another 10 minutes, adjusting for water and salt. Add ½ cup of cream and garam masala. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add ½ stick of butter and 2 tbspn kasoori methi.
Garnish with coriander
If you are serving the next day , you could take some butter in a pan and melt it. Add a pinch of red chilly powder. When the powder sizzles, pour over the daal.