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Creamy Black Lentil Dahl (Daal Makhani/Creamy Black Lentil Dahl)

About the recipe

Quite a bit of work and start on time The dish is actually called; Daal Makhani or Creamy Black Lentil Dahl. Sounds better too. Anyway...recipe comes from the; Bible of Indian cuisine, page 139. This dish can also be made a day in advance, improves the taste and gives you more time for other things on the day of serving.

Servings:

4 persons

Region:

Asia

Kitchen:

Indian

Working hours:

45 min

Total preparation:

10 hours

Course/dish:

Side dish

M, f, v or v

Veggie

Material:

-

Season:

-

Complexity:

Simple

Ingredients and supplies

  • 175 g black lentils
  • 75 g dried kidney beans
  • 1 tbsp ghee (regular butter works fine)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 extra spicy (rawit) peppers
  • 2 large onions
  • 3 cm ginger root
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp (Kashmiri) Chilli Powder
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 can tomato puree
  • 60 ml whipped cream
  • some coriander
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • some sugar
  • some vegetable oil (not olive oil)
  • some cayenne pepper or chili powder to make it spicier

Prep-work

Serves 4 but as a side dish it is certainly enough for 8 people. We have adjusted the amounts of spices in particular (a little more of everything) because it is just that little bit tastier.

This dish can also be prepared a day in advance, which improves the flavour and gives you more time for other things on the day of serving.

Preparation

Preparation 8 hours!

  • Rinse black lentils and kidney beans a few times until the water runs clear.
  • Place them in a pan with plenty of water and set aside (does not need to be refrigerated).
  • Let it soak for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight.

--- then wait for a night or 8 hours ---

  • Drain the liquid from the lentils and kidney beans.
  • Add fresh water and bring to the boil with some salt.
  • Simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

--- in that hour you can easily do the following ---

  • cut open the (rawit) peppers, remove the seeds and cut into small pieces; chop.
    (tip: don't rub your eyes!).
  • Chop the onion.
  • Chop the coriander.
  • Grate the garlic, ginger and mix together with a little oil.

  • Heat the ghee/butter in a large (frying) pan.
  • Fry the chopped onions.
  • Then add the bay leaf and cumin seeds and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add ginger/garlic and chillies, fry for another 5 minutes, stir.
  • Add tomato puree, fry for another 5 minutes, stir.
  • Add the Kashmiri Chili Powder, garam masala and some salt to taste... and yes, let it fry again and stir.
  • Let it simmer on low heat.

  • Puree half of the lentils with a potato masher (not a hand blender!).
  • Add all the lentils, kidney beans to the mass in the pan and stir well!
  • Simmer gently with the lid on the pan for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (also over the bottom because it can "stick").
  • Add 2/3 of the cream, stir.
  • Taste and season with salt, pepper, chili pepper or some other spices.

--- set aside until use ---

Serve:

  • Heat the mass.
  • Put in a nice, beautiful, cozy or ugly bowl.
  • Decorate with the remaining cream; drips, strings or a nice swirl if you can.
  • Add some coarsely chopped coriander or just some coriander leaves.

KPK

​

29 december 2022

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