Black daal - Daal makhani
========================== 2026-01-03


Comment: This recipe served in Dishoom restaurants in Great Britain appeared in my email, sent by a family member. Upon checking, I found that this recipe is published under the name "House Black Daal" in the cookbook "Dishoom: From Bombay with Love," sold by Dishoom.

This recipe requires 24 hours of cooking time, but the slightly simplified version below only takes 5 hours. However, it remains a simple recipe as there are no complex steps, except for locating black lentils: "Urad Daal". Green lentils can be substituted if necessary.

This dish is served as a first course or appetizer and can be served with one of the many varieties of Indian bread.

Approximately 10 servings

Ingredients:
------------

500 g black lentils (urad daal) or green lentils (see text)
20 g garlic paste
18 g ginger paste
or 38 g ginger/garlic paste
120 g tomato puree
12 g salt
1 pinch chili powder (or 2 for the adventurous)
1 level teaspoon garam masala
90 g butter
120 ml cream (optional)

Preparation:
------------

Put the daal into a large bowl, cover with water and whisk for 10
seconds. Let the daal settle, then pour out the water. Repeat 3 or
4 times, until the water is clear.

Tip the daal into a large saucepan and pour in at least 4 [6.5] litres
cold water. Bring to the boil and cook steadily for
2-3 hours. Skim off any impurities that rise to the surface, and
add more boiling water as required to keep the grains well
covered. The daal grains need to become completely soft, with
the skins coming away from the white grain. When pressed, the
white part should be creamy, rather than crumbly. When cooked,
turn off the heat and allow the pan to sit for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, mix the garlic and ginger pastes, tomato paste, salt,
chilli powder and garam masala to a paste.

Carefully pour off the daal cooking water then pour on enough
freshly boiled water to cover the daal by about 1 inch. Bring to
the boil over a medium-high heat and add the aromatic paste
and butter. Cook rapidly for 30 minutes, stirring regularly to
prevent the mixture from sticking.

Lower the heat and simmer for 90 mn, stirring very regularly
to prevent it from sticking and adding a little boiling water if the
liquid level gets near the level of the grains. Eventually, it will
become thick and creamy. The creaminess must come from the
grains disintegrating into the liquid and enriching it, not from the
water being allowed to evaporate leaving only the grains behind.

Add the cream and cook for a further 15 minutes. Serve with
chapatis or other Indian breads.