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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 Those of you who follow my blog posts regularly, by know very well know what is Sundal and how much me and my family love eating sundals with our meals .

Also,with Navratri going on ,this time I made sundal using rajma which definitely was my first attempt as rajma usually takes the form of Rajma Masala or Rajma Pulao in my house .

I was skeptical about how South Indian flavors would blend with rajma in the form of sundal, but I was totally wrong. It was just my mindset and pre conceived notion ,I must say .The fresh coconut,  tempering of fresh green chili and ginger along with the delicious Sundal Podi (special spice mix)  went so well that we all enjoyed eating this delicious rajma sundal .

I have used the Chitra variety of rajma ,but you can use any variety of rajma which you use regularly.  Make sure the rajma is soaked well for minimum of 10 hrs so that it gets cooked well .Rajma sundal certainly needs a good amount of pre preparation time,so ensure that you give it the required soaking time to get best results .

Difference between Chitra Rajma and Jammu Rajma (red /laal rajma) 

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