Dal Makhani

Source:  One Hot Stove

This past week I was traveling for work and as a result consumed all sorts of unhealthy foods.  I was dying to come back and eat some home cooked comfort food.  But I still had to stick to my new cooking resolutions which are: 1. Try to cook based on what you already have in your kitchen, 2. Cook healthier.  I looked at all of the dal sitting in my pantry and realized that I had not touched urad dal in a really long time... so that's how this recipe came about!  :-)  

This was just the perfect food to indulge in and not feel guilty about! 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup red kidney beans
• 1/2 cup black urad dal
• 1/4 cup chana dal
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1.5 teaspoon red chili powder
• 10 cashew nuts
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

Directions

1. Soak the beans and dals overnight (I ended up soaking them for ~16 hours), then rinse
2. Pressure cook the beans and dals along with 3 1/2 cups water
3. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and add cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida, and fenugreek seeds.  After they splutter, add the ginger and garlic and simmer for a few minutes. (Add a little bit of water if it starts to stick.)  Note:  The original recipe said to use ginger/ garlic paste.  I used fresh ginger and garlic and just blended them into a paste.
4. Add the tomato puree and paste.  Cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring often.
5. Coarsely mash the beans and dals and add them in. (I drained the beans/ dal and added them in, keeping aside the extra water.) 
6. Add salt and bring everything to a boil
7. Blend the cashew nuts and a little bit of the dal water to form a paste
8. Stir in red chilli powder and cashew nut paste.  Simmer for 10 minutes (add additional water leftover from the dal if it ends up being too thick)
9. Turn off the heat and stir in garam masala
10. Garnish with coriander leaves (and butter if you wish!) and serve with rice or rotis

Kuty's Twist

I slightly modified this to be a healthier version.  I used less butter and replaced the cream with cashew nut paste.  I also added tomato paste, which I feel gives dishes a bit more flavor.  If you have really juicy tomatoes, you may not need this.