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Dal makhani recipe | How to make punjabi dal makhani recipe

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Dal makhani recipe – One of the most popular lentil dishes originated from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Dhal or dal refers to lentils and makhan refers to butter. Dal makhani literally translates to lentils cooked with butter. Traditionally dal makhani was prepared by simmering lentils on coal fire for several hours. This slow cooking for prolonged hours yield a creamy, thick and best tasting buttery dal.
punjabi dal makhani
This Punjabi dal makhani recipe is a keeper and has never failed to amaze my guests. I am sure you will love how rich, creamy and delicious it tastes!

Enjoy dal makhani with Jeera rice, plain basmati rice,Ghee rice, plain paratha, butter naan or roti along with some onion and cucumber wedges.

For more punjabi recipes
Punjabi egg curry
Dum aloo
Punjabi samosa
Butter chicken

If you have a slow cooker, you can use it. Just need to adjust more water depending on how many hours you are going to slow cook it.

You may like to check these similar recipes,
Masoor dal recipe
Moong dal recipe
Chana dal recipe
Dal fry recipe

Punjabi dal makhani recipe

dal makhani recipe

Dal makhani recipe | How to make punjabi dal makhani recipe | Dal recipes

Dal makhani recipe made in punjabi style. Delicious slow cooked lentil dish made from black gram and basic spices. It is served with plain basmati rice, naan, kulcha, roti or plain paratha

Print
Course Side
Cuisine punjabi
Keyword authentic, easy, restaurant
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Soaking time 4 hours
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4 to 5 people
Calories 268 kcal
Author Swasthi

Ingredients (240 ml cup used)

Ingredients for dal makhani

  • ¾ cup whole black lentil or sabut urad dal or black gram
  • 3 to 4 tbsp rajma or red kidney beans (optional)
  • 3 to 3½ cups water for pressure cooking - more for pot
  • 1 small black cardamom or badi elaichi (optional)
  • 1 small bay leaf or tej patta (optional)

Tempering for dal makhani

  • 2 to 3 tbsp butter or oil
  • ¼ to ½ tsp cumin or jeera
  • 1/8 tsp hing or asafoetida
  • 1 medium onion fine chopped
  • 2 to 3 medium tomatoes fine chopped deseeded or ¾ to 1 cup tomato puree
  • 1 tsp ginger paste or finely chopped or adrak
  • 1 tsp garlic paste or 5 to 6 finely chopped cloves or lehsun
  • 1 green chilies slit optional or hari mirch
  • ½ tsp red chilli powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder or haldi
  • Salt as needed
  • 1 ½ to 2 cups water to add later (half cup each time while simmering)
  • 3 to 4 tbsps cream

Spice powders

  • ½ to ¾ tsp garam masala
  • 1 ½ tsp coriander powder or daniya powder

For garnish

  • 1 tbsp coriander leaves or daniya patta
  • 1 tbsps butter or 1 tbsp cream

How to make the recipe

Preparation

  1. Wash urad dal and rajma together several times and soak overnight or at least for 4 to 5 hours.

  2. Rinse both the lentils a few times. 

  3. Then drain and add them to the cooker or pot. Also add cardamoms and bay leaf. Pour 3 to 3.5 cups of water.

  4. Pressure cook for 8 whistles on a medium heat. You can also cook in a pot until soft and tender adding more water whenever needed.

  5. Both urad dal and rajma must cook to very soft. When mashed with a spoon the dal and rajma must be soft and get mashed well.  If not then pour another half cup water and continue to cook for another 3 whistles on a medium heat. 

How to make dal makhani

  1. Heat a heavy bottom pot / pan or handi with butter or oil. 

  2. Add cumin and allow to crackle. 

  3. Then add hing, ginger garlic and green chilli. Saute until aromatic.

  4. Next throw in the onions and fry until they turn golden. 

  5. Then transfer tomato puree, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Saute until the tomatoes turn mushy.

  6. Add garam masala and coriander powder. Saute well again until the masala leaves the pan.

  7. Pour the cooked lentils along with the stock.

Slow cooking dal makhani

  1. Stir and cook on a a low flame until the dal thickens. I cook for about 60 to 90 mins stirring often in between to prevent burning the bottom.  Slow cooked dal tastes best.

  2. You will need to add half cup water when ever the dal thickens. It may need about 1 to 2 cups water more as and when needed.

  3. You will be left with thick creamy dal. Pour cream and stir. Cook for another 5 to 7 mins.

  4. Add chopped coriander leaves and ginger juliennes for garnish. You can also garnish with butter or cream.

  5. Serve dal makhani with naan, plain rice, roti or jeera rice.

Recipe Notes

Dal makhani tastes best when slow cooked on a low flame for long time.
To get the authentic taste you can cook the dal for as long as 4 to 6 hours on a low flame.
Keep stirring consistently to prevent burning.

Nutrition Facts
Dal makhani recipe | How to make punjabi dal makhani recipe | Dal recipes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 268 Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g 22%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 38mg 13%
Sodium 565mg 24%
Potassium 70mg 2%
Total Carbohydrates 25g 8%
Dietary Fiber 10g 40%
Sugars 1g
Protein 10g 20%
Vitamin A 11.7%
Vitamin C 11.1%
Calcium 4.5%
Iron 19.8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Source: Taruna’s Easy food smith.
dal makhani recipe

Preparation for dal makhani recipe

1. Wash sabut urad dal, rajma and chana dal thoroughly several times. I have not used chana dal and can be skipped if you do not favor it. Soak it for overnight or at least for 4 hours. I soaked it overnight.

Pour 3 to 3.5 cups water, 1 bay leaf and 1 black cardamom to a pressure cooker. Cook for 8 whistles on a medium flame. You will have to add more water as needed if cooking in a pot. Do not cook on a high flame, slow cooked dal tastes the best. I cooked for about 35 to 40 mins in a pressure cooker on a medium flame.
soaking lentils to make dal makhani recipe
2. Next when the pressure goes off, open the lid. Dal has to be soft cooked. When you mash the dal and rajma with a spoon they must get mashed well easily. The color of the cooked lentils may be different at this stage depending on the ingredients.
pressure cooking lentils

How to make dal makhani recipe

3. Heat a heavy bottom pot or pan with butter or oil. Make sure you use a heavy bottom utensil to prevent the dal sticking at the bottom during the slow cooking process. Add cumin and saute for a min or two.
heating butter to make dal makhani recipe
4. Sprinkle hing and add ginger garlic paste. You can also use grated ginger garlic instead of fine chopped. Saute until they turn aromatic.
sauteing ginger garlic
5. Transfer finely chopped onions.
frying onions to make dal makhani recipe
6. Saute until the onions turn golden.
golden fried onions
7. Add tomatoes, green chili, salt, turmeric and chili powder.
addition of tomato chilli to make dal makhani recipe
8. Saute until the tomatoes turn soft. If needed you can also cover and cook.
cooking tomatoes
9. Add garam masala and coriander powder. Give a good stir and saute well until the masala leaves the pan.
addition of coriander powder garam masala

Cooking dal makhani

10. Transfer the cooked dal along with the stock.
addition of lentils to make dal makhani recipe
11. Stir well and begin to cook on a low flame stirring often.
slow cooking
12. You will need to add half cup water each time the dal thickens. Stir and continue to cook on the lowest possible heat. You can use about 1 to 2 cups water and simmer for 60 to 90 mins on a very low flame. Remember to keep stirring and add water whenever needed.
simmering dal makhani until buttery
13. This was the consistency i got after 90 mins. Thick and creamy. If serving right away, you can add cream and simmer for 5 to 7 mins. It tastes good even without the addition of cream.
addition of cream to make dal makhani recipe
14. If having it the next day or later, you can refrigerate. Heat up when ever needed by adding little water. When it comes to a boil, add cream and stir well. Cook for another 5 to 7 mins or until it thickens.
dal makhani with cream
Dal Makhani can be served with butter topped and garnished with coriander and ginger Juliennes.
Dal makhani tastes best the next day. So you may refrigerate and have it the next day.
addition of butter
Serve dal makhani with plain rice, naan or roti. You can also garnish with cream and coriander leaves.
dal makhani

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Comments

  1. Hi I made your dal with jeera rice and tandoori chicken. We had a hearty meal. Food turned out awesome!! Thanks for the good work

    Reply

  2. This was absolutely delicious! Served with the curried califlower “rice” mentioned and some garlic roasted potatoes. Oh my! Thank you so much!

    Reply

    • Welcome Jennie
      So glad to know dal makhani turned out well. Thanks a lot for the comment. Have a great weekend!
      🙂

      Reply

  3. Dear swasthi
    you make cooking simple with your awesome recipes. We love your chicken makhani, aloo gobi, idli, dosa the list is endless. I made this dal makhani with tomato puree. It was awesome. Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes.

    Reply

    • Welcome Rinku
      I am very happy to know you tried so many recipes. Thanks a lot for trying the recipes.
      🙂

      Reply

  6. Hi,
    I tried the dal makhani. It came out very very delicious. But the water you mentioned in the recipe wasn’t enough so I had to add a lot more. I cooked it on low fire for 2 hours apart from pressure cooking. On the whole Awesome! Thank you so much.

    Reply

    • Hi Nidhi,
      You are Welcome. Thanks a lot for the comment. Yes it may take more water if cooked for longer.
      🙂

      Reply

  8. Dear swasthi I love to try this dal makhani recipe. Is there any other substitute to kidney beans ? I would prefer to use butter beans. Suggest me how much butter beans can I use. I am keen to try this soon. TIA

    Reply

    • Hi Eunice
      Thank you. You can skip kidney beans. Dal makhani is usually made with black gram, kidney beans or bengal gram. You can also make it with just black gram. I am not sure if butter beans is going to change the taste and flavor. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  11. Can I make this without rajma? I love your recipes and tried a lot of them. They have always turned out great.

    Reply

  12. Swasthi loved The authentic taste . It was just like the dal makhani I tasted in a Friend house in Delhi. Thank you for the recipe

    Reply

  13. Yummy !! 😋 I am so very delighted dal makhani and jeera rice turned out super duper delicious. My in laws loved my food and were raving a lot. All thanks to you. I will be trying more recipes from here. 🙂

    Reply

  14. Hello Swasthi,
    I have made this a few times now and it turns out good. I need a suggestion. I make this almost once in two weeks for a weekend lunch. Is there a way I can make this in my electric cooker with a timer set? I plan to put this late night so it is done by morning. I do not have a slow cooker or a insta pot. Any suggestions would be helpful. Tia

    Reply

    • Hi Priya,
      Thanks for trying. Yes you can try it setting the timer a few hours before you want to serve. I am not sure what happens if you cook through out the night since it is not a slow cooker. I suggest you halve the recipe and try it. Make sure you pour more water than for the pressure cooker method. Adjust the setting to soup if your cooker has the option. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  15. Swasthi I have made a lot of recipes from here. Love aloo Gobi, chicken biryani, many more. Made this dal makhani too. This one was out of the world!!! Thanks a lot.

    Reply

    • Welcome Simi,
      Very happy to know the recipes turned out good. Appreciate your comment. Thank you.
      🙂

      Reply

  18. Hi Swasthi..looks awesome recipe,i want to try but u said black udad dal and this pic looks like green whole moong dal..so can plz clarify it is green whole moong dal or whole black udad dal..thanks

    Reply

    • Hi Deepali
      I have used only whole urad dal. After soaking them over night and pressure cooking they turn like what you see in the picture. Dal makhani is always made only with urad dal, no green gram. The creamy taste comes only with this urad dal.

      Reply

  20. Hello Swasthi, It is a great recipe. Simple steps and ingredients makes it consistently delicious every time. Thank you for the recipe. I am going to subscribe your youtube as well. Thank you!

    Reply

  23. Dear Swasthi,

    I would like to make this in the traditional method. What do I need to do differently to the method stated above in order to achieve this?

    I have a coal fired bbq which I could use – would this add much to the flavour vs. cooking in a slow cooker/hob?

    Dipesh

    Reply

    • Hi Dipesh Kataria
      You will need to simmer the dal on a low charcoal flame for 6 hours. Which is a very tedious task as it also needs stirring often. Taste wise yes it is said that dal makhani that is slow cooked on charcoal fire tastes very good.
      To get an smoked aroma, you can also follow the dungar method.
      To do that, you will need to burn a piece of charcoal, when it turns hot, take off the fire and place it in a small bowl or plate. Place this inside the dal makhani pot. Pour half tsp ghee over it. It will begin to smoke. Cover the pot. Leave it for about 5 to 10 mins.
      Hope this helps

      Reply

  25. Dhal makhani- Total time required 7 hrs???? For 4 person serving
    In this time we can make a complete food required a marriage function

    Reply

    • Hi Anil Manjeri
      Traditional preparation & cooking of dal makhani takes about 24 hours. This is a short cut method. Dal makhani is made by simmering dal for hours to get the real taste

      Reply

  26. I am making the recipe today. I’ve noticed there is no mention of chilli powder in the ingredient list; I’ll just add 1/2 t. to start. The recipe looks awesome, looking forward to it.

    Reply

    • Hi Cathy
      Thanks for the mention. I have updated it. Yes 1/2 tsp chilli powder is good enough. If you are very particular about the color of the dish, you can use another 1/4 tsp,, but use less hot variety like kashmiri.
      Have a good day!!

      Reply

  30. Looks yummy. Butter – are u using butter(unclarified butter which we get in cubes) or ghee. Or both give same taste. Please tell me

    Reply

    • Hi Rehma
      Thank you
      For Indian recipes I use cultured butter. I buy the butter (cubes), then make it cultured butter which really gives a very good authentic flavor to the foods. Especially when we use for garnishing the flavor is great. That even tastes good for breads or paratha. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  33. Looks perfect and so tempting 😀 And I love your step by step presentation of the whole process. Stay in touch! 🙂

    Reply