Smoked Dal Makhani Recipe - Dhaba Style

Archana Doshi

April 6, 2020

13403 Ratings

Time:Prep: 10 M|Cook: 1h 0m|Total: 1h 10min

Makes:4 Servings

Meal:Dinner

Cuisine:North Indian Recipes

The Dal Makhani Recipe is a deliciously flavoured lentil curry that is also popularly known as the Punjabi ‘dhaba’ dal. This dal makhani is made with black whole urad dal and rajma, flavoured with subtle Indian spices and simmered with cream and butter. It is said that the longer the dal simmers in the spices, the better flavors it gets.

Serve Dal Makhani along with Garlic Naan, Quick Paneer Masala and Jeera Rice for a delicious meal. Do make sure to also serve the dal makhani along with a few sliced onions, slit green chillies, a tomato cucumber salad, and cut lemon wedges for a very Punjabi Dhaba feel.

If you like this recipe, you can also try other Dal recipes such as

Watch video recipe of Smoked Dal Makhani Recipe - Dhaba Style

Ingredients

3/4 Black Urad Dal (Whole)

1/4 Rajma (Large Kidney Beans)

1 Cumin seeds (Jeera)

1 Tomato, finely chopped

1 Ginger, finely chopped

2 Garlic, finely chopped

2 Green Chillies, finely chopped

1 Bay leaves (tej patta), torn

1 Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini), broken

1/2 Turmeric powder (Haldi)

1/2 Cumin powder (Jeera)

1/2 Garam masala powder

1/4 Cardamom Powder (Elaichi)

1 Ghee

1/4 Fresh cream

6 Coriander (Dhania) Leaves, finely chopped

1 Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves)

Salt, to taste

1 Charcoal, for smoking

Instructions for Smoked Dal Makhani Recipe - Dhaba Style

To begin making the Smoked Dal Makhani Recipe Soak the black urad dal and rajma together in 4 cups of water for about 8 hours.

Heat ghee in the pressure cooker over medium heat; add the cumin seeds and allow it to crackle. Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute for a few seconds.

Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, tomatoes, turmeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, cardamom powder. Saute on medium heat until the tomatoes become soft.

Add the soaked dal along with more water until the dal mixture has at least 2 inches of water above it. Add salt to taste and cover the pressure cooker.

Pressure cook the Dal Makhani for about 35-40 minutes on medium heat. After 35-40 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the pressure to release naturally.

When you open the cooker, the dal should be cooked well. Add additional water to make it a dal consistency if it has become a little dry.

Heat butter in a heavy bottomed pan; add the cumin seeds, cooked dal makhani and cream. Turn the heat to low and simmer the dal makhani for 10 to 15 minutes. While simmering, keep mashing the Dal Makhani to make it creamy and this will also help the flavours get deeper.

Traditionally Punjabi's have been known to simmer their dals for more than an hour or two, to get the intense richness and taste from the dal makhani. But make sure that when you simmer the dal it is stirred occasionally, thereby preventing the dal makhani from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Finally, during the last 10 minutes of the simmering process, add the dried fenugreek leaves and the coriander leaves into the dal makhani. Stir well and simmer for another 5 minutes.

The final step is to smoke the Dal Makhani - heat coal on a flame for about 5 minutes until it has a few red hot spots around.

Place a katori/ very small in the centre of the dal makhani pan and immediately place the hot coal inside. Add a few drops of ghee and you will notice it begins to smoke. Cover the pan so the smoke circulated and flavours the dal.

After about 30 - 40 seconds, open the lid and remove the bowl. You will notice a delicious smoky flavour in the Dal Makhani.

Turn off the heat and transfer the Smoked Dal Makhani to a serving bowl.

Serve Dal Makhani along with Garlic Naan, Quick Paneer Masala and Jeera Rice for a delicious meal.