Vegan Dal Makhani
Intensely flavourful dal makhani and it's plant based too. Using minimal ingredients the key is cooking the dal slowly until the lentils disintegrate creating a beautiful creamy sauce.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Potato masher
Ingredients
- 300 g black lentils
- 4 tbsp neutral cooking oil
- 3 green cardamon
- 1 small onion (finely diced)
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 2 level tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 level tsp garam masala
- 40 g tomato puree
- 110 g passata
- 75 g unsalted vegan butter (no spread or margarine) + more for garnish
- 75 ml vegan double cream + more for garnish
- finely chopped coriander for garnish
- salt
- water
Instructions
- Rinse the lentils until the water is running clear.
- Place in a big bowl of water and soak overnight.
- Drain the lentils and then add to a pressure cooked filled with 1 litre of water. Now cook for 7 whistles on a medium to high heat. You should be able to easily squeeze a lentil. If not, continue cooking.
- Drain the lentils and discard of the cooking water.
- In a deep pot heat 4 tbsp of oil on a medium heat. Once hot add your green cardamon followed by onions. Sautee until translucent.
- Now add the ginger and garlic paste. Cook this until fragrant.
- Next add the garam masala and kashmiri chilli powder. Add a splash of water and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the passata and tomato puree and cook for 3 minutes until everything is well combined.
- Now add the lentils and 1 litre of water. Cover with a lid and place on a low/medium heat. Cook this for 1 hour.
- After an hour has passed, mash the lentils using a potato masher. Do this for 5 minutes then add another 750ml of water.
- Cover and cook for another hour and half on low/medium heat. During this hour occasionally use the masher to mash every now and then.
- After the second hour, mix in all the butter and 1.5 tsp of salt. Now cook this on a low heat for another hour to a hour & half with out a lid.
- It’s important to keep mixing in this hour as the lentils may stick to the bottom. The texture to keep an eye out for is that when you lift the spoon there isn’t liquid dripping. It needs to become a thick texture.
- Mix in all the double cream and cook for 10 more minutes. This is when you can add a small amount of water to slightly loosen the dal.
- Taste for salt and add accordingly. Plate up and garnish with coriander, fresh ginger, knob of butter and double cream.
Notes
In addition to the recipe, below are my tips on how to ensure you can easily recreate this at home.
- Soaking the dal is optional but it will decrease the cooking time drastically. If you opt out of soaking the dal you will need to cook the lentils in the pressure cooker for longer around 8-9 whistles at least until the lentils are easy to squeeze but not completely mashed.
- If you don't have a pressure cooker at all you will need to boil the lentils in water until you can squeeze easily this may take at least 2 hours. And then discard of the cooking water and follow the same steps above.
- The mashing will speed up the process so please don't skip.
- After the lentils have been incorporated with the gravy and you begin to slowly cook the dal it is important to keep stirring every now and then. After the second hour taste a few lentils and see if the texture is al-dente or completely disintegrating. If it is the first you will need to add more water and keep cooking.
- When to know the dal is nearly ready: they will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and lump together - a sign the dal is fully cooked. Of course excess liquid will be present so keep cooking until it turns into a thicker texture.