VHD 2/12 - Dal Makhani - made easy and healthy too! (From Hema)

Here's another post from Hema.

Dal Makhani is a crowd pleaser yet there are so many varieties of this Indian delicacy. I wanted to surprise my hubby with something different today and remembered having urad dal (black lentils) in my pantry, so that was a start. I managed to keep it heart healthy by cutting down on the usage of butter and cream, but making sure the taste was intact.

As always Google came to my rescue and I have tried so many versions. To name a few:

• Adding “dals" (lentils) to a onion + tomato + ginger gravy
• Slow cook the lentils in onion and tomato and let it turn into a gravy

But this particular recipe claimed to be from the chefs at Oberoi and I thought that should be great! So here we go with my version. I call it made easy since it’s a simple 3 step process

1. Cook the dals
2. Cook the gravy
3. Mix the 2

A few tips before you start:

• The dals soaking calls for overnight or at least 6 hours. I made it simple by letting the dals heat in water in the microwave. And then let it soak for 30mins
• Use a small pressure cooker, that way you can cook the dals in this, just add the gravy later ans let it simmer
• If you run out of “cream”, just melt 1 tbsp butter and add about 1 oz. of whole milk and stir for about 2mins on low-medium
• I prefer fresh tomatoes to tomato puree but that’s a personal choice

Dal Makhani – made easy and healthy too!
Adapted from A Life (Time) of Cooking
Serves about 4 cups

Ingredients:
1. Urad dal (black lentils) : Rajma (red kidney beans): Chana Dal (bengal gram dal) in the ratio 3:1:1. I used about 150 gms : 50gms : 50gms for the serving size of 4 cups
2. Tomatoes – 2 big
3. Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
4. Garlic cloves – 3 cloves
5. Heavy cream – 1 oz (you can also use 1 extra tbsp of cream to garnish while serving)
6. Jeera (cumin seeds) – 3 tbsp
7. Fenugreek seeds – 1/4th tbsp (Note: please stick to a very small amount given their bitter taste)
8. Garam masala – 1 tbsp
9. Chill powder – 1 tbsp
10. Green chilies – 2 small ones
11. Fresh ginger – 15 (very thin julienne)
12. Oil – 1 tbsp
13. Salt – to taste
14. Sugar – 2 tbsp

15. Coriander – 3-4 tbsp, finely chopped

Preparation method:

1. Wash all the lentils, soak them in water and microwave for about 3mins. Let it soak for another 30mins.
2. Meanwhile in a kadai - heat oil, add jeera, fenugreek and once they splutter add tomatoes
(chopped into small pieces), ginger garlic paste and cook for a few minutes on high.
3. Add about a cup of water and let it simmer for about 10mins with the lid on. Mash it with the ladle on and off
4. Pressure cook the lentils along with the garlic cloves for about 2-3 whistles
5. Once its ready to open, mash it a little, add the tomato gravy, green chilies, fresh ginger, chili powder, garam masala, salt, sugar and give it a good mix
6. Add the cream and mix it well. Let it cook on low-medium for just 10mins
7. Add the coriander and mix it on last time before serving
8. Garnish with a dash of cream, few coriander leaves and serve it with tandoori rotis (or whole wheat Indian breads of your choice to make it more heart healthy)