Comments on: Dal Makhani

By: Roma

Roma — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:11:50 +0000

Dear Aunty,

I love all your recipes and have tried a few which came out to be very perfect and delicious. For dal makhani, i want to know which cream is used . Also I bought Nestle cream , but i think that is used for cakes, can i use the same in dal makhani.

plz. reply. Thankyou.

By: Vani

Vani — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:06:04 +0000

Naseema,

when you go to the home page on this web site. on your left you will see the menu Videos & Recipes. Below videos and recipes you will see the word ‘grains’. Under grains you will see photos of all the grains that Manjulaji uses. Here you will see the photo of urad. The black one is what is used in this recipe of Dal Makhani.
Hope this helps…

Vani

By: Vani

Vani — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:37:39 +0000

Mindy, sorry to hear that it didn’t turnout as you expected. Actually this is a very easy dish to make.
I use 1 cup of urad and 1/4 cup of kidney beans. soak them for 18 hours. drain the water. Add1/2 cup of water and pressure cook (if you have one)the lentils. if not boil the lentils in some water but don’t add too much water. After soaking for 18 hours, they become quite soft and it doesn’t take that long to cook. Good luck

Vani

By: Jaya2

Jaya2 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:16:06 +0000

It was strange to see a comment with my name and very similar views as well

By: Jaya

Jaya — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:20:00 +0000

Gook looking recipe. I’m with you on end factory farming. There’s no need to eat animals. Maybe 1,000,000 years ago it was different, but not any more! The Indian vegetarian diet is nutritionally complete.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:29:40 +0000

I too had trouble finding Urad.

“Urad” dal is a white-eyed black pea, otherwise known as black lentil. It took me over 2 years to find a reliable source (To make myself the perfect Dal Makhani, which I love). I buy 1kg (2lb) for $8.50AUD, from my local Indian grocer. (He also makes an awesome Mango Lassi!!)

The best policy is to find a true Indian who knows what “Urad” is.

The beauty of buying from locals instead of the multi-conglomerate trash corporate purveyors is that you get what you pay for. No GM, totally wholesome fresh veggies and pulses for super-cheap. The way it should be.

“Food for profit? What the F * C K?”

Get into it!

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:15:24 +0000

I was quite disappointed with this one. Makhani is one of those precarious preparations whereby one can invest a lot of effort and get back nothing.

The cream element and the end of the recipe negates many of the strong spices and really closes the envelope on your efforts. But when you get it right, you know it.

Manjula is the Queen of Indian Vegan. And I mean that. And so do my housemates. 1/3 of my main meals are Manjula curries. (thank you Manjula!!!)

My last dish before I left India from Punjab was this Dal and it was nothing short of a masterpiece.

Try this-

Pre- soaked: (12+hr) 1/4cup Rajma 1/2cup urad dal

w/2.5cups water + 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp bicarb soda

Pressure Cooked: 30min (have patience)

For Takda

- 2 tbs ghee
- 2 green chilies slit (w/seeds, c’mon guys!)
- 3 teaspoons garlic/ginger paste
- 1/3tsp grated ginger
- 3/4tsp cumin seed
- 1/4tsp asafoetida

Let simmer 5min, add-

- 2 (two) FINELY chopped onions, till brown

Add-

- 1 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/3 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp chili powder (or according to taste)

Cook and combine the Takda slowly, 30+min w/cover then add:

- 1/2tsp amchoor powder
- 1/3tsp garam masala
- 1/4 cup cooking cream
- 2 tbsp pure butter

Cool and let marinade for 24+hrs in the fridge (mash a little bit) then re-heat with butter, peanuts, cashews, pecans, your choice )

Makhani is one of those ones you never forget if you do it right.

END FACTORY FARMING!

VEGETARIAN-

By: Mindy

Mindy — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:31:55 +0000

Thank you for the advice, Jaya. You are kind and helpful.

By: Jaya

Jaya — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:25:20 +0000

Hi Liane, I think this is not a good recipe for a novice. Dal makhani is a more intermediate recipe. After one has cooked dals for a while you know what to look for and can sense if the recipe is moving in the right direction.

Agree too that switching out the cream and butter will change/texture and overall characteristics of the taste a lot.

By: Liane

Liane — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:08:08 +0000

I agree Jaya… Some recipes are not made to be doubled – especially in baking for some reason. And I also don’t understand why people blame the recipe but then say “I changed this,this and this”. Lactose free milk is thin – this recipe calls for cream and since cream in this case is used as a thickener, no wonder it turned watery. She might have saved this by adding some more plain cooked dal to it.. That might have helped.
Also I think sometime dals can be tricky and you might have to use more or less water and that this recipe is a guide.