The story of dal makhani goes like this:
Some time ago in Bangalore, India, I had a dal makhani to die for. It was just a room service meal ordered as I was very busy at the time, yet it made me sink back into my couch with a wonderful smile on my face - as if I had died and gone to Dal Heaven.
I rang through to the kitchen and asked for the recipe. Oh what hilarity that caused in the kitchen - much laughter and giggles, and simply hours later, I received a typed up recipe from the chef at the Taj in Bangalore. It is the most wonderous dish, full of butter and cream and takes some time, so a dish for special occasions.
Recently I wanted to make it again, so off to the wonderful Asian Bazzar in Market Street in Adelaide to get my beans. I knew that I needed 3 different beans but could not recall them. I asked the wonderful indian man if he could help me. "But of course madam. You need Kidney beans, chana dal and urad dal." Then he proceeded to write out his recipe from memory! Here it is. It is just as yummy as the other recipe, which you can find on my web site, but lots simpler. Go for it!
Indian Bazzar's Dal Makhani
Use 1.5 cups of urad dal,
0.5 cups of chana dal,
0.5 cups of red kidney beans
1 - 2 onions
2 - 3 cloves garlic
large knob of ginger
chilli or curry powder
celtic sea salt
bunch coriander
2 ripe tomatoes
3 - 4 Tblsp tomato paste
2 - 4 Tblsp ghee or butter
30 ml cream
Soak the beans overnight.
Cook the beans until tender with 1 onion, 1 knob of ginger, 2 - 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 red chilli or your favourite curry mix (use a good one) to taste, all chopped finely, and salt (use only celtic sea salt for superior flavour). Don't use too much chilli or curry. You want a tang, but don't want it to be really hot. If I am being a purist, I will add the salt and curry mix for the last 1/2 of cooking time. But some days I don't want to be a purist.
Cook until well done and just a little mushy. The length depends on your beans - and urad dal takes a long time to cook. I have been known to cook it for 2 hours on very low heat, but maybe 1 hour on a simmer will be fine. Mash some of the beans on the side of the saucepan or use a stick blender (but don't mush too many - you still want the bean texture).
Stir through 3 - 4 Tblspn tomato paste, the same amount of ghee or butter, 25 - 30 ml of cream and adjust the seasonings. Heat through, and stir through half a bunch of coriander (chopped) and some tomato, chopped into chunks. I love curry leaves quickly fried in butter and added to the dal as well. Serve with rice and wait for the "Yum"s.
You can serve this as part of an Indian meal, but more and more these days I do Fusion Cooking - I could serve this with a nice salad of greens, tomato and onion, perhaps cucumber and bean sprouts. Not much dressing on it, and certainly not too acidic. No vinegar - use lemon or lime and not much of it. You could shred some kaffir lime leaves or lemongrass and sprinkle thorugh the salad as well.
Continue. Enjoy.
