10 Apr Authentic Dal Makhani recipe restaurant style

Posted at 22:43h in Glutenfree Recipes, Lentils/Curries, Main Course by blessmyfoodbypayal 4 Comments

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Last Updated on April 10, 2023 by blessmyfoodbypayal

Authentic Dal makhani recipe restaurant style with step wise pictorial and video method.

DAL means Lentil and MAKHANI stands for Butter.

Daal Makhani is one of the most popular North Indian main course made with whole black lentil (also called Kali daal), red kidney beans (rajma), cream and loads of butter, ofcourse some spices as well.

This mouthwatering dish is most commonly served in restaurants and hotels.

Daal Makhani is a piece of heart for restaurant goers and if you are vegetarian, this is impossible that you won’t order daal makhani to the waiter. The rest of the food items may vary person to person, family to family but the daal makhani is one, sure to be there on your table in the restaurant.

Daal Makhani makes a delectable combo with Jeera rice and we even like it with naan also.

DAAL MAKHANI AT HOME

Daal Makhani is one such recipe which when you prepare at home, everyone including you is definitely going to compare it with the daal Makhani of restaurant’s.

We too have prepared daal makhani at home many a times earlier also and it tasted fine, but never achieved that taste which we get in restaurants and hotels.

After many trials and study, we could be able to achieve the milestone and realized that merely having and putting all the ingredients together doesn’t make a good daal makhani.

Cooking with all the given ingredients can make a good daal but never a daal makhani in the real sense of the term.

TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE RESTAURANT STYLE DAAL MAKHANI

Daal Makhani is less about ingredients and more about proper technique and process.

Read all the given tips, herein below to make a perfect daal makhani at home:

1. Soak the daal (black daal & rajma) overnight or for atleast 8-9 hours.

2. Washing the daal properly is equally important. Do not just pass the daal through water but wash it vigorously and repeatedly 4-5 times after changing the water.

3. Mere washing the daal by rubbing with hand wasn’t enough, so do boil the daal in boiling water for 2 minutes. It will take away all the impurities from the daal, if any left after washing.

4. We have heard from some of the experts that daal Makhani doesn’t require much spices and we accordingly tried it that way. But unfortunately couldn’t achieve that taste.

But when made by adding all the spices, daal came out like that of restaurant style. So DO NOT SKIP green cardamoms, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Though star anise is optional but do add if you have. Also add nutmeg if you are having it.

5. Coriander powder, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, garam masala and onion do not go in daal makhani.

6. Prefer to cook daal makhani in desi ghee instead of oil.

7. Now the IMPORTANT STEP which makes this daal, The Daal Makhani and that’s the simmering and mashing process.

Once the daal is boiled in pressure cooker, we simmered and intermittently mashed it for about 1:30 hours. Do note that this 1 hour 30 minutes time is excluding pressure cooker timing.

8. If you are thinking that if daal is simmering for this much of time, then obviously there will not be any water left in daal and as a result, daal will stick to the bottom of the pan, then you are thinking right. The solution to this problem is that you can add water as and when you feel there’s no water left. We added about 4 cups of extra water while simmering during the duration of 1.30 hours.

9. Simmering duration of 1 hour and 30 minutes is not a fixed time frame and you can simmer it for less or more time also. But it is suggested to simmer for atleast 30 to 45 minutes at lower side and there’s no maximum time frame. You can keep it for simmering whole day and accordingly keep on adding the water, as and when required.

10. Butter, cream and kasuri methi (dry Fenugreek leaves) are 3 ingredients which you can’t skip.

Which butter you are adding doesn’t matter, be it salted, unsalted or white, but butter has to be there.

Likewise cream is must. If you don’t have cream, you can add malai.

Also, kasuri methi gives a unique flavour to the recipe. Suggesting not to skip it.

11. Giving smoking effect to the daal take the taste of daal to another level, so suggested not to skip it.

12. Do taste daal makhani before serving and adjust the seasoning, if needed.

STEP WISE PICTORIAL RECIPE of Authentic Dal Makhani recipe restaurant style

Dal Makhani making process has 7 steps. Let’s do it one by one.

STEP 1 : SOAKING OF DAAL

1.Take 1 cup whole black lentil (Kali moong daal) and 1/4 cup red kidney beans/Rajma in a bowl.

2. Add 1/2 tsp salt and water sufficient enough to soak the daal.

3. Let daal remain soaked overnight or atleast 8-9 hours.

STEP 2 : WASHING OF DAAL

4. Washing of this daal is one of the important steps and for that you need to wash the daal by rubbing the daal vigorously with your hands.

5. Repeat this washing step 3-4 times after changing the water everytime.

6. After washing the daal 3-4 times, transfer the daal into a boiling water.

7. Boil just for a minute so that all the impurities of daal washes away in hot water.

8. Thereafter sieve the dirty water and daal remains with you.

STEP 3 : BOILING OF DAAL

9. For boiling daal, transfer it into pressure cooker. If you don’t have pressure cooker, then you can boil it in a pan having a lid.

10. Add 2 green cardamoms, 1 inch piece of cinnamon, 1 star anise (optional), 1 black cardamom, 2 cloves, 8-10 garlic cloves , 1/2 tsp red chilli powder , 1/2 tsp salt and 4 cups of water.

11. Pressure cook for 5 whistles. If cooking in a pan, then keep on cooking. For how long to cook, you will understand after reading the recipe ahead.

12. After 5 whistles, let the pressure release on it’s own.

STEP 4 : COOKING TOMATOES FOR GRAVY

13. While the pressure is releasing, let’s prepare the tadka/tempering of daal. And for that add 2 tbsp desi ghee in a pan.

14. Add 1 tbsp ginger paste and let it turn slightly brown.

15. Now add red chilli powder to taste and mix well.

16. Add 1.5 cup of tomato puree.

17. Cook the tomato puree until the puree leaves the sides of the pan and you can see the ghee separating from tomatoes. Switch off the heat and keep aside.

STEP 5 : SIMMERING OF DAAL

18. By now, pressure from cooker must have been released.

19. We have transferred the daal in a wide pan so that it becomes easy to handle it. If you don’t want to shift the daal, let it remain there in pressure cooker. Also from here onwards, those who have boiled daal in open pan, can join the process.

20. Place the daal on low heat and let the daal simmer.

21. Keep on mashing the daal with the back side of the ladle. Do this mashing process repeatedly in short gaps.

22. Let the daal simmer like this for atleast 30 to 45 minutes, while keep on mashing it intermittently.

23. If at any stage you feel that water has dried up and daal has started sticking to the base of the pan, add 1 cup water at a time. During the period of 45 minutes of simmering, we added nearly 2 cups of water at different times.

STEP 6 : ASSEMBLING OF DAAL

24. When 45 minutes of simmering is done, transfer the tomatoes tadka into the daal.

25. Give them a good mix.

26. Still the simmering and mashing process (step 4) is not complete and keep the daal for simmering for further 30 to 45 minutes.

27. Again, whenever water dries up, add a cup of water. This time too, we added 1-1 cup of water twice.

28. You can see a sluggish surface over the daal and it’s a sign that daal is thoroughly cooked.

29. During the last minute of cooking, add salt to taste, 50 gram butter and 1/4 cup of cream. Mix till butter melts completely.

30. Lastly add 1 tbsp of kasuri methi/dry Fenugreek leaves after crushing it between your palms.

31. Give it a good mix.

STEP 7 : SMOKEY EFFECTS

32. Add burning charcoal in a small bowl and place the bowl in the middle of the daal.

33. Pour few drops of desi ghee on burning charcoal.

34. Immediately put the lid on the pan and let it like this for 5 minutes.

Daal makhani is ready. Serve hot after garnishing it with more butter, cream and kasuri methi.

NOTES

You must be finding that simmering and mashing process of 1 hour and 30 minutes is too much, but the real taste of daal makhani is derived from this step only. In the restaurants and hotels, daal makhani is simmered overnight or for several hours to get the authentic taste.