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Dal Makhani Recipe-How to prepare Dal Makhani-How to make Dal Makhani

November 17, 2010 by PadhuSankar 64 Comments

Dal makhani is a very popular Punjabi dish and it can be called the Queen of all dals. It is very simple to make and goes well with jeera pulao, rotis, parathas and naan. Today we will learn how to make dal makhani following this easy recipe with step wise pictures.

Dal makhani-how to make Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani-How to make Dal Makhani


Dal Makhani

 Prep Time : 10 mins (excluding soaking time)

 Cook Time : 40 mins 
 Serves: 4
 Recipe Category: Side Dish
 Recipe Cuisine: Punjabi-Indian
 Author:Padhu Sankar

   Ingredients needed

   Whole black gram – 1/2 cup
   Rajma/Red Kidney beans – 2 tbsp
   Onion – 1/2 cup finely chopped
   Tomato puree – 1 cup
   Butter – 2 tbsp
   Salt needed

   For grinding

   Ginger – 1 inch piece
   Garlic – 6 cloves
   Dry red chillies – 2 (soak it in hot water for 15 minutes)

   Spice Powder

   Coriander powder – 2 tsp
   Garam masala powder or kitchen king masala – 1 tsp
   Kasuri methi – 1 tsp (optional)
   Chilli powder – 3/4 – 1 tsp

   For the seasoning

   Oil – 2 tbsp
   Cumin seeds/jeera – 1 tsp

   For garnishing

   Cream – 2 tbsp (optional)
   Coriander leaves finely chopped -2 tbsp
   Ginger – 1 inch piece (slivered) –

Preparation


Grind ginger, garlic and red chilies together to a smooth paste.

Soak both the dals together for 6-7 hours or overnight.Wash it well, add 3 cups of water, half of the ginger-garlic-red chilli paste, salt, turmeric powder and pressure cook for 5 whistles, then simmer and cook for another 15 minutes. The dal should be soft. Mash it a little with the back of the ladle. Keep it aside.

preparation for dal makhani

Method 

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, when it sizzles, add finely chopped onions and saute stirring continuously on medium flame until onions turn golden brown. Add a little salt to speed up the process.

Now add the remaining ginger-garlic-chilli paste and saute for a few more minutes.

Then add coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder, kasuri methi (crush it between your palms and add) mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.

sauteing onions

Add tomato puree, butter and cook well until the raw smell of the tomato goes and oil ooze out. (Can you see the change in the color of the tomato puree in the picture below). The tomato puree should be cooked like that.

cooking Punjabi dal makhani

Now add the cooked dal along with water. Add salt needed. (add less as we have already cooked dal with salt). Cook on low flames for another 15 – 20 minutes until everything gets blended well with the masala.

Punjabi dal makhani

Stir in fresh cream and cook for another 3 minutes.

You can adjust the consistency of the dal by adding hot water if it becomes too thick.

Dal Makhani Recipe
close up shot of dal makhani
Serve delicious Punjabi dal makhani piping hot with any rotis, plain rice, jeera pulao, peas pulao, simple vegetable rice, naan, paratha or ghee rice.

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Filed Under: Side dish, Side Dish For Chapati, Uncategorized Tagged With: Dal, legumes, Punjabi Recipes, Uncategorized




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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Paaka Shaale

    November 17, 2010 at 8:01 am

    The dal makhni looks awesome. Very well presented 🙂

    Reply
  2. Kurinji

    November 17, 2010 at 8:07 am

    looks yummy…

    Reply
  3. Subhashini

    November 17, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Dal has come out perfect colour and texture.

    Reply
  4. Dr.Sameena Prathap

    November 17, 2010 at 8:42 am

    Hello Padhu,

    Looks yumm..:)

    Dr.Sameena@

    http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

    Reply
  5. Abhilash Pillai

    November 17, 2010 at 8:45 am

    aah! this looks delicious. I liked the recipe as I have all the ingredients with me. 🙂

    I think Punjabi prepare a lot of recipes from dal.

    Though we are two people in the house and the recipe is for 4 people… aah we will manage . 😉

    Reply
  6. Gayu

    November 17, 2010 at 8:51 am

    Looks so perfect…I will add a big tablespoon of butter to this and have it with hot Roti's …Yummmm…

    Reply
  7. Priya Sreeram

    November 17, 2010 at 9:00 am

    so very inviting— nice recipe !

    Reply
  8. Kanchan

    November 17, 2010 at 9:10 am

    I've prepared this only once and had it with lacha paratha … love this combination.

    Reply
  9. Priya

    November 17, 2010 at 9:55 am

    Full of protein, nutritious dal makhani looks simply fabulous..

    Reply
  10. Gayathri's Cook Spot

    November 17, 2010 at 10:19 am

    Looks lovely. Tempted to try it immediately..

    Reply
  11. An Open Book

    November 17, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    i love dal makani

    Reply
  12. Akila

    November 17, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    wow yummy yummy dhal makhani dear…. cute little flowers are superb….

    Reply
  13. Elisabeth

    November 17, 2010 at 2:10 pm

    Your Dal Makhani look absolutely delicious. Love the spices, and the preparation of the dish. This is certainly a dish I am looking forward to making.
    Thank you for your kind comment on my blog…now I'm following you, so I can stay close to your updates!

    Reply
  14. Mrs.Menagasathia

    November 17, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    looks simple n healthy dal!!

    Reply
  15. Indian Cuisine Blogroll

    November 17, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    yum yum…love it with chappathi…

    Reply
  16. Kairali sisters

    November 17, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Dal Makhni..Sounds yumm..

    Reply
  17. Pavithra

    November 17, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    My fav one i can eat this whole without roti itself..yummy and healthy as well.

    Reply
  18. kanthi

    November 17, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    I never made this,but it is quite interesting dish paddu ji..

    Reply
  19. aipi

    November 17, 2010 at 4:03 pm

    Ohh..I love this daal..nice recipe!

    US Masala

    Reply
  20. Shalini

    November 17, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    lovely dal makhani. looks gr8. i love the nice flower decoration with lentils as a background:) awesome:)

    Reply
  21. chaitrali pathak

    November 17, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    dal makhani looks delicious…

    Reply
  22. Sushma Mallya

    November 17, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    yummy,love this one too

    Reply
  23. Swathi

    November 17, 2010 at 5:55 pm

    Dal Makhani looks delicious Padhu. Nice to have them with roti

    Reply
  24. Biny Anoop

    November 17, 2010 at 6:14 pm

    give me some roti let me dip it in this…love it..perfect
    Biny

    Reply
  25. Suja Sugathan

    November 17, 2010 at 7:07 pm

    Looks awesome..love it

    Reply
  26. Ananda Rajashekar

    November 17, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    This is my fav too…they look awesome 🙂

    Reply
  27. Divya Vikram

    November 17, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Looks creamy and rich!

    Reply
  28. swapna

    November 17, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    healthy and yummy…lovely!!

    Reply
  29. R

    November 17, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    nice recipe! i also make it similarly. luv it with paratha.

    Reply
  30. Rachana

    November 17, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    Dal makhani looks absolutely delicious. Love those cute flowers 🙂

    Reply
  31. Srimathi

    November 17, 2010 at 11:05 pm

    Nice dal majhani.I always love them with my rice.

    Reply
  32. Shruthi Hebbur

    November 18, 2010 at 2:56 am

    nice recipe. i have similar thing in my blog too. do drop by shrunil.blogspot.com

    Reply
  33. indianspicemagic

    November 18, 2010 at 3:56 am

    I love to have this…

    Reply
  34. GEETHA ACHAL

    November 18, 2010 at 4:26 am

    Looks so tempting….Sure do try it…Thanks for sharing..

    Reply
  35. jeyashrisuresh

    November 18, 2010 at 2:38 pm

    my fav one.looks very nice and wonderful presentation

    Reply
  36. Victoria

    November 18, 2010 at 4:20 pm

    I love Dal Makhani! I will definitely try this, thank you 🙂

    Reply
  37. Madhu

    November 18, 2010 at 6:44 pm

    This is my favorite 🙂

    Reply
  38. San

    November 18, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    Dal makhani is absolutely delicious and am craving for a serving or two now 🙂 with some rice .

    Reply
  39. சாருஸ்ரீராஜ்

    November 19, 2010 at 6:14 am

    tempting to eat . sure i will try

    Reply
  40. Kurinji

    November 19, 2010 at 7:44 am

    Pls collect ur award from my blog!

    http://kurinjikathambam.blogspot.com/2010/11/versatile-blogger-award-and-drumstick.html

    Reply
  41. vanishri bhat

    November 19, 2010 at 10:50 am

    Hmmm Looks tempting. You have nice space here.

    Reply
  42. Quay Po Cooks

    November 19, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    This dish look mouth-waterig delicious!

    Reply
  43. savitha ramesh

    November 19, 2010 at 2:15 pm

    awsome…i was amazed by ur presentation…….

    Reply
  44. Anonymous

    December 13, 2010 at 2:13 am

    I enjoy all your recipes.

    Reply
  45. Victoria

    January 12, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    Hi Padhu! I'm going to try this recipe out this weekend, with maybe a couple slight changes. Do you mind if I share this on my blog with credit (and a link) to you, of course? Thanks!

    Reply
  46. Jayanthy

    April 26, 2013 at 5:41 pm

    Hi Padhu! I tried this recipe and it came out really well. My hubby and boys loved it. Thanks!

    Reply
  47. vaishnavi narasimhan

    September 28, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Hi, What butter to add n what is the cream which i should ask in stores n which store should i look for this butter n cream. pls advise

    Reply
  48. Padhu Sankar

    September 29, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Vaishnavi – You can add any unsalted butter. You can use Amul dairy cream or even fresh homemade cream. You can get butter and cream in all supermarkets.I will soon be posting how to make cream and butter at home.

    Reply
  49. FlexGirl58

    November 16, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    I just returned from three weeks in India and now I love Indian food…especially Dal Makhani, Chana Pindi, and Bhindi Masala. I found your Dal Makhani recipe and am ready to make it except I don't have a pressure cooker. Is there an alternative, if so, can you please tell me what it is, and how long I should cook the dal. Thanks!

    Reply
  50. Padhu Sankar

    November 17, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    FlexGirl – If you do not have a pressure cooker,cook dal and beans in a pan adding enough water, but it will take a long time to get cooked. Cook until soft.

    Reply
  51. Sonam Kumari

    August 6, 2015 at 9:39 am

    I tried this Dal makhani Recipe And it comes out delicious 🙂

    Reply
  52. Rathi Ravindra

    November 3, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    can use urad dal ?

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      November 4, 2016 at 12:33 pm

      You must use only whole black gram for this recipe.

      Reply
  53. mona

    November 24, 2016 at 2:55 am

    I made this. OUT OF THE WORLD… SUPER DUPER DELICIOUS… THANKS A TON PADHU. YOU ARE A GREAT COOK.

    Reply
  54. suma sweety

    October 31, 2017 at 1:13 am

    Its so tempting.. I want to try this.. Pls clarify tat black gram and splited skinned urad dal are different??

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      October 31, 2017 at 7:29 am

      Black gram and splited skinned urad dal are the same lentil but difference is in the process. For this recipe, you must use black gram with skin as you can see in the first main picture.

      Reply
  55. suma sweety

    October 31, 2017 at 9:28 am

    Yeah… Thank u mam …

    Reply
  56. Archana Raghuraman

    March 20, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    Hi mam.. iam not able to get whole black urad dal here.. can I use the black split ones

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      March 22, 2018 at 7:58 am

      Yes, you can use split ones also though it is not used in traditional dal makhani.

      Reply
  57. Divya

    October 22, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Hi mam..
    Can I replace fresh cream with coconut milk

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      October 23, 2018 at 9:21 am

      This is a Punjabi recipe in which only fresh cream is added. But if you like to add coconut milk, you can add. That will also taste good.

      Reply
  58. Nisha

    May 21, 2022 at 2:47 am

    Hi mam, can we use broken black gram for this instead of whole?

    Reply
    • PadhuSankar

      June 19, 2022 at 1:21 pm

      Yes, you can.

      Reply
  59. Mona

    June 9, 2023 at 9:21 am

    I prepare dal makhni following this very recipe always and it turns out very tasty every time. It is lovely and very simple. Thank you Padhu. Always a fan of your recipes.

    Reply

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Meet Padhu, the Chef, the photographer, recipe developer and web designer behind Padhuskitchen which features Simple Indian Vegetarian recipes, healthy recipes, kids friendly recipes, Indian festival recipes, traditional South Indian Vegetarian ...

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