Dal Makhani is one of the most ordered Indian dish in restaurants. You can make authentic, buttery, rich dal makhani at home. It’s just as good as the restaurant version! Black gram and kidney beans are simmered in a creamy spiced sauce and is perfect for special occasions or a great dinner. With Instant Pot and Sauce pan instructions. (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, oil-free option).

Love ordering Dal Makhani at restaurants? You’ll love this homemade version even more! This is adapted from my home-style dal makhani that’s on the blog and in my books. The difference is that this version has more spices, including some whole spices, which create more layers of flavor. 

This version of dal makhani is a little bit more involved than my home-style version. It has both a base sauce and a spiced oil. This levels up the flavor and adds a smoky, creamy flavor, like restaurants usually serve.  There’s also a lot more Kashmiri chili powder in this version compared to the home-style one. 

The home-style recipe is quicker and still delicious, but this one takes it up another couple of notches, simmering the beans in a deeply-flavored sauce.

Makhani means both “butter” and “like butter,” and the dish is called dal makhani, both because of the butter content and the creamy, buttery texture of the dal. The goal is to cook the beans long enough that they become soft and almost break down into the sauce, thickening it and creating a smooth consistency. For the right texture, I prefer to use a pressure cooker / instant pot, but you can also cook it in a saucepan. I included both methods in the recipe.

After cooking the beans, we make a delicious sauce with whole spices, aromatics, and ground spices, then add the cooked beans to it. Then, we prepare a spice oil with toasted fenugreek leaves, Kashmiri chili, smoked paprika, and a smoky burnt cinnamon stick. Burning the cinnamon stick for just half a second before adding it to give the dal its smoky restaurant-style flavor.

Traditionally, restaurants achieve this smoky flavor by using food-grade charcoal. They place a piece of hot charcoal in a bowl with oil, which immediately smokes. Then, they nestle the bowl inside the dal pot and cover the pan for 10 to 15 minutes. If you don’t want to use charcoal or burnt cinnamon, liquid smoke can also work.

Why You’ll Love Dal Makhani

• creamy, buttery dal with two kinds of beans
• deep flavor from the sauce and the spice oil, no dairy needed!
• flexible! Cook the beans in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free with an oil-free option

Continue reading: Restaurant-Style Dal Makhani

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Chataka Dal is a spicy flavorful Dal from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is made from yellow split pigeon peas simmered along with tomatoes, then seasoned with a spicy chili tempering. Gluten-free, soy free and nut free.

I grew up in Maharashtra state and the dishes of this particular cuisine have a special place in my heart! Simple dals, bhaji like my jackfruit brown chickpea bhaji, saoji , kohlapuri, and Zunka are already on the blog! You can find misal pav and Amti dal  in my cookbook.

This Chataka dal is another dish I love – it’s a simple dal with few ingredients but trust me, it’s far from simple in taste. It’s fiery with the added chili powder tempering. As always, you can adjust the spice level to your preference.

To serve, I serve with flatbread or rice. This dish goes incredibly well with rice but you could also serve this with cauliflower rice.

Dals are soul food with many variations from various states and regions in India.
There are several types of Dals and legumes used in Indian cuisine. You can see a list with pictures here.
This Chataka dal is quick and delicious. Traditionally it used 1-2 tablespoon of the Indian chili powder, but that is going to be a lot of heat for most . So I use less. You can use whichever lentils or split peas you have for this recipe. Just cook them long enough until tender and then add the tempering/Tadka.

More daal recipes:

• Sabut Masoor Ki Daal; Spiced Lentil Soup
• Dhaba Style Butter Dal (vegan)
• Vegan Handi Lentils (Creamy Indian Dal)
• Instant Pot Dal Bukhara; Dump and Done Creamy Black lentils
• Spicy Urad dal

Continue reading: Chataka Dal – Spicy Maharashtrian Toor Dal

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This rich and creamy Caramelized Onion Dal is the perfect comfort food for a cold day! It is bursting with flavor from caramelized onions and whole spices which are tempered in oil! Serve with rice for a delicious Indian meal.

Coming at you with a simple lentil dal that is bursting with flavor. This is another dal that I just made one night when I was craving a light dal and rice meal.

This caramelized onion dal is a creamy concoction of two types of lentils – red and yellow ones – which are cooked on the stove or using an Instant Pot and then simmered along with fragrant seasoned oil – tadka (tempering).

The caramelized onions add a whole bunch of umami flavor while the cumin and black pepper mixture added to the tempering provide some heat and a refreshing flavor!

To take this dish to the next level of deliciousness we serve this lentil dish drizzled with another round of tempering. This second mix of whole spices fried in oil until sizzling and aromatic gets folded through the creamy dal just before serving

Use whatever lentils you have on hand. I used a mix of yellow and red lentils. You can cook them on the stovetop or in the instant pot.

More daal recipes:

Dhaba Style Butter Dal (vegan)

Sabut Moong Dal  Creamy Green Mung Beans

Vegan Handi Lentils (Creamy Indian Dal)

Masoor Dal Tadka (Indian Split Red Lentil Dal)

Spicy Urad Dal (Black Gram Lentil Dal)

Continue reading: Caramelized Onion Dal

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