Dal Makhani (Butter Curry Lentils)

Back in 2009, I discovered this dish. Not only was it full of spice, it was a vegetarian meal that didn't taste awful and wasn't too expensive. Fast forward a few years and this dish is almost the same price as a meat dish. Suffice to say; I decided it was time to make it.

It it took a while to find a decent recipe, but when i did, I knew, straight away I needed to amend it. Firstly - make sure you buy whole lentils and kidney beans and soak/cook them - try not to use canned ones. It is best to use a pressure cooker, but if you don't have one, you can cook the soaked lentils and kidney beans for an hour, and then cook the Dal for an extra 20 mins. This dish can be frozen.

Ingredients

140 g dried whole black lentils (urad dal)
70 g dried small red beans or kidney beans
2-3 teaspoons low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
30g butter or ghee
2 large onions, chopped
6 large cloves garlic, crushed
2½ - 3cm piece fresh ginger, grated on a microplane
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
½ whole cloves
½ teaspoon chilli paste
1½ tablespoon garam masala spice mix
1 - 1½ teaspoon each ground coriander, cumin and sweet paprika
1½ teaspoon each ground fenugreek and black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse salt
400 g can diced tomatoes (preferably no-salt-added)
170 g tomato passata
30g unsalted butter
¼ cup cooking cream

Method

Add the black lentils and red beans to a large bowl; fill the bowl with room temperature water and soak overnight. Rinse and drain the next day.
Add the lentils and beans to a pressure cooker and add hot water, until lentils and kidney beans are covered. Add stock powder and a dash of olive oil.
Bring up to a boil, then add lid. Once up to pressure, cook for 5-8 mins. Release pressure.
Heat the butter or ghee in a large saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and deep caramel in color, stirring occasionally. You can add a splash of water or turn the heat down at any point if the onions start to get too dark or the pan starts to get too hot.
Once the onion is caramelized, turn the heat to medium (if it wasn’t there already) and add the garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, red chilies, garam masala, coriander, cumin, sweet paprika, fenugreek, and black pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Add lentils and beans (not the water) into the onion/spice mixture, the salt, the diced tomatoes, and the tomato passata.
Gently simmer (uncovered) until the sauce is somewhat thickened and the lentils and beans are fully tender, about 20-25 mins, stirring frequently. If liquid is required, add some of the stock from the pressure cooker.
Turn off the heat and stir in the butter and cream.