Whole black urad dal cooked with tomatoes, onions to a creamy, luscious and butter dal
-
3/4
cup
Whole black Urad Dal 
-
1/4
cup
Red kidney beams / Rajma - 1/4 cup chana dal (Optional)
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 2 tomatoes pureed/ finely chopped
- 11/2 tbsp tomato paste (substitute with 1 more big tomato)
- 1/2 tsp crushed kasuri methi
- 1 tbsp finely minced ginger- garlic
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/4 cup cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp ghee/ oil
- salt to taste
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Wash and rinse the lentils in water. Soak the lentils overnight in water. When you are ready to cook, drain the water and rinse again.
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Switch on the saute mode in your instant pot. When it heats up, add the butter and oil and add the cumin seeds.
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When the cumin sizzles, add the ginger garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the finely chopped onions and saute until they turn golden brown.
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Now add the tomatoes, tomato paste, kashmiri chilly powder, coriander powder and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
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Add the soaked lentils, 31/2 cups water, salt and cook on manual / pressure cook mode for 30 minutes
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When done, release pressure naturally. Add the kasuri methi, garam masala and mix. Now take about 1/3rd cup of the dal, grind it to a puree and add it back to the instant pot with the remaining dal.
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Add the cream and let it simmer in low heat setting for 10 to 15 minutes or even more. Keep stirring occassionally to prevent burning in the bottom. You can add more water as needed to adjust the consistency
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Serve hot topped with salted butter, lemon juice, cilantro and chopped onions.
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To make this in normal pressure cooker, follow the same instructions in a pressure cooker. Cook for 7 to 8 whistles. Release pressure naturally. Blend some dal and add it to the rest of the dal and simmer for sometime.
- If you want to make this recipe vegan, check out my blog post on vegan dal makhani.
- If you wish you can skip the cream or reduce the amount of cream added. Also ghee can be substituted with oil. But in that case make sure you serve it with a dollop of butter to give it the rich buttery taste.
- To get the smokey flavor you can use charcoal to get that flavor. To do that, place a small piece of hot charcoal (with fumes) in a small cup and keep it on top of the dal on a trivet. Close it and let the fumes infuse with the dal for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and serve hot.
- I would recommend to use some tomato paste for the rich tomato flavor. But it can be substituted with more tomatoes. In that case reduce the tomatoes to a thick paste while sauteeing, so the tomato becomes sweet and intense in flavor.