Recipe of Dal Makhani - How to make Dal Makhani

Procedure – How to Make Dal Makhani at Home?

• Whole Black Urad dal and Rajma are taken together in a bowl. They are rinsed well in normal running water and then soaked overnight in sufficient clean water.
   
• Before preparing the dish, some other important items have to be prepared from the above-mentioned ingredients.

A) Preparation of Onion Mixture Paste in Recipe for Dal Makhani

• For the above purpose, a non-stick pan is put on a medium flamed burner. 1 teaspoon butter is added in the pan. When the butter starts melting then chopped onion pieces are added in it & the contents stirred till the color of the onion becomes golden in color.
   
• Next chopped ginger and garlic are added together to the above mixture & stirring continued till the pungent smell disappears.
   
• Next chopped tomatoes are added to the mixture & the preparation sautéed after adding a little salt (as described in ingredient).  Salt would make the tomatoes soft. When the tomatoes get softened then the burner is switched off and the mixture allowed to get cool at room temperature.
   
• Once the preparation gets cooled then it is transferred to a grinder & the contents ground to obtain a smooth paste. This paste is later taken out of the grinder and kept aside.

B)  Preparation of Cashew Paste in Recipe of Dal Makhani

• For preparing a paste of Cashew, the Cashew is kept submerged in 1/4^th cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Later this Cashew, along with the hot water is transferred to a grinder and the contents ground till it becomes uniformly smooth fine paste.
   
• Next, it is taken out of the grinder and kept aside.

C)   Preliminary Dal Preparation in Dal Makhani Recipe

• Urad Dal and Rajma in the amount mentioned previously is taken in a pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water and transferred to a low flame burner.
   
• The contents are boiled till 14 to 15 whistles of pressure cooker are heard.
   
• Next, the burner is switched off.
   
• Once the steam of pressure cooker stops coming out from the pressure cooker then the lid of the cooker is opened and the adequate boiling of dal is checked.
   
• If the dal is adequately boiled then it is all right, otherwise, the dal in the pressure cooker is again put on the low flame burner along with the required amount of water, for proper boiling.
   
• After the dal gets properly boiled, it is cooled and partly mashed by hand and the product kept aside.

D) The Final Steps of Recipe of Dal Makhani

• A non- stick pan is put on a medium flame burner and 1 teaspoon of butter is added in it. Once it gets melt then Cumin seeds (in quality mentioned previously) are added to it and it is allowed to get warm, till its color starts to change to golden color.
   
• Next turmeric powder and Onion tomato mixture paste (described & prepared earlier) is added to it and sautéed for 2 to 3 minutes. Next boiled dal & Rajma mixture (previously described & prepared) is added to the previous preparation and is mixed uniformly.

• Next, Chilli powder & Cashew Paste (previously prepared) is added to the dal mixture and it is allowed to boil for 10 minutes in a low flame burner. After a few minutes the whole mixture is stirred (otherwise dal will stick to the bottom of the pan & a burnt smell would come out).
   
• The Dal consistency in this situation should not be too thick or too thin. Once this consistency is obtained the burner is switched off.
   
• Kasuri Methi powder is added to it and the contents mixed uniformly.
   
• Now half of the cream (as mentioned in the ingredients of recipe of Dal Makhani) is mixed with the dal mixture & the rest left for future garnishing.
   
• Now a small piece of charcoal is held with a forceps & it is burnt in the fire of a gas stove. Once it starts burning, it is put in a very small bowl. This bowl is now put in the center of the dal. 1 teaspoon of liquid ghee is put over the charcoal, so that that a generous amount of smoke starts coming out from the charcoal.

• Now this whole dal preparation contained in the pan is at once covered by a huge lid so that the fumes are contained inside this closed space for at least 3 minutes. This ensures a smoky smell stays in the dal preparation.
   
• After 3 minutes the lid of the container is opened and the small bowl containing the charcoal is removed from the center of dal preparation.
   
• Next 1 teaspoon butter is added to the preparation & the contents stirred nicely so that the contents are uniformly mixed. Later the contents are shifted to a serving bowl.
   
• The remaining cream and chopped coriander leaves are spread over the dal preparation. Dal Makhani is now ready for serving to your loving family members or guests; along with roti, nan, paratha or Puri.