Buttery Silky Dal Makhani

When Nupur announced her Blog Bite 2 – theme of cooking anything which you never thought you’ll prepare at home, I was oh … My List is too long!! :-? So the Plotter that I am – I acted on asking The Foodie about our eat-out plan on our coming lazy weekend:

Me: “We’ll eat-out or order something this Sunday… ”

He: “Yeah … lets order Dal Makahani ... it’s been long time we had it!”

Bingo …. Searched my favourite blog – One Hot stove and planned our eat-out at our home itself. Menu was typical Punjabi style – Dal Makhani with Laccha Paratha.

For me Punjabi meant – “Butter chicken” while for The Foodie the same word means – “Butter Dal “! I thought “How uninspiring it is to have a Dal at the same price of the Chicken”, but all you Guys who haven’t tasted this authentic Punjabi Dal Makhani – you HAVE to HAVE this! The buttery feel, the sensuous texture, it is thoroughly Punjabi’s signature dish.

Few things I got to know about this Dal ..

The overall procedure to prepare is quite similar to most of the Dals, yeah It is very simple to Prepare yet it’s rich and sure a Crowd Pleaser. It uses Black Urad Dal – I never had this in pantry – so this is new around. Infact this Black Urad Dal  – is the sole reason for the Buttery feel of Dal Makhani.. ! Its easy preparation has raised my confidence that not all restaurant style Dishes are difficult – recollect my Hara Bhara Kabab.

Do go through Nupur’s recipe, the delicacy in gist is You Do: 

1. Soak Kidney Beans (Rajma) - 16 hours And Black Urad Dal + Chana Dal – 8 hours. Pressure cook these lentils and mash them a bit.
2. Heat Desi Ghee – Add asafoetida + cumin seeds + ginger- garlic paste + fenugreek seeds. Let these splutter.
3. Add Tomato Puree; let it loose its raw texture. Add red chili powder + salt + cream +dollop of butter and cooked mashed lentils.
4. Let the lentils boil, finish off with garam masala + ghee.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

The Foodie wanted to have Lacha Paratha with Dal, for me I had no idea how this Paratha looked. So The Foodie experimented with this, and it was WOW!! I regret for not trusting his experiment, so didn't click any snaps but I HAVE to Post these lovely parathas,I promises will prepare them soon! Till that time even you can drool over these… ;)

Dal Makhani also participates in following events :

• My Legume Love Affair:The 22nd Edition, hosted at Ruchikacooks.
• Veggie Platters event “Delicious Dals of India”
• Silpa of Anita’s Kitchen hosting Vegetable Marathon-Beans

Happy Cooking and Posting about it :D