I’m no stranger to Indian food.
In fact, ever since one of my very best friends introduced me to the cuisine in college it’s been a favorite of mine. She started me off on Chicken Tikka Masala (of course thinking that it would be the most certain dish to win me over), but not long after first trying it, my affection for Indian food branched out to any Indian-spiced dish I could get my hands on.
My friend’s father offered to set up a daily food delivery for my friend from a local Indian restaurant. My eyes widened in jealousy and then narrowed in disbelief when she said she turned him down flat. I can’t eat Indian food from a restaurant every day!, she exclaimed. After spending time with her, cooking together, and later visiting home with her where we feasted on her mom’s cooking nightly, I understood what she meant.
Like most cuisines, restaurant-made Indian food doesn’t hold a candle to homemade Indian food.
Even so, Mike and I seek out local Indian and Pakistani restaurants to get our fix. But every time we go, we both end up saying something along the lines of I should have just made us an Indian meal at home. You’d think we would learn faster, but in the end time constraints usually win out, and I only end up cooking homemade Indian food for us a couple times a year. And each time I make it I end up saying it was worth every second of effort. Mike, please remind me of this next time I suggest going out for Indian.
This dish isn’t a quick-cooking meal and neither is it a low-calorie meal (but it’s called Butter Lentils so that probably doesn’t come as a surprise). Like any homemade meal, this dish is worth every second of effort, and as a bonus, most of the time required to make it isn’t hands-on time (but don’t forget to soak the beans the night before!). Sitting down to this for dinner you’ll realize it is in fact worth every minute spent on it and every calorie ingested.
And just a quick note if you tend to shy away from butter…studies show that real, grass-fed butter is actually good for you! The list of health benefits actually goes on and on, but for starters, butter helps the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins; it’s also a great source of antioxidants and other nutrients (such as Vitamins A, D, E, and K and the mineral selenium) that strengthen our immune system, protect our cardiovascular system, and help prevent cancer. An important component of butter is Conjugated Linoleic Acid, which not only helps protect against cancer, but may also help with weight management. Further, the short and medium-chain fatty acids in butter’s saturated fat are burned as quick energy – not stored as fat in the body. You can read more about the health benefits of real, grass-fed butter on Mercola, Mark’s Daily Apple, Body Ecology, Green Med Info, and Delicious Obsessions.
- 1 cup (140 g) dried whole black lentils (urad dal)
- ½ cup (70 g) dried small red beans or kidney beans
- 8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 6 large cloves garlic, crushed using a mortar and pestle or grated on a microplane
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated on a microplane
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-inch piece cinnamon stick
- 2 whole pods cardamom, cracked open
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 dried small hot red chilies (more or less to taste)
- 1½ tablespoons garam masala spice mix
- ¾ teaspoon each ground coriander, cumin, chili powder, and sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon each ground fenugreek and black pepper
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 (14 oz/400 g) can petite diced tomatoes (preferably no-salt-added)
- 1 (6 oz/170 g) tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter (preferably grass-fed), cut into 4 pieces
- ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- Add the black lentils and red beans to a large bowl; fill the bowl with room temperature water and soak overnight. Rinse and drain the next day.
- Add the lentils and beans to a 5-quart pot along with the vegetable stock. Bring up to a boil, then cover the pot, turn heat down to simmer, and cook 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and deep caramel in color, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add a splash of water or turn the heat down at any point if the onions start to get too dark or the pan starts to get too hot.
- Once the onion is caramelized, turn the heat to medium (if it wasn’t there already) and add the garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, red chilies, garam masala, coriander, cumin, chili powder, sweet paprika, fenugreek, and black pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Once the lentils and beans have cooked for 1 hour, stir in the onion/spice mixture, the salt, the diced tomatoes, and the tomato paste.
- Gently simmer (uncovered) until the sauce is somewhat thickened and the lentils and beans are fully tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring frequently. (Of course you can cover the pot if the sauce gets too thick before the lentils and beans are tender.)
- Turn off the heat and stir in the butter and cream.
- Serve with rice or Indian flatbread (such as naan or chapatis), garnished with anything you like. (I garnished mine with thinly sliced red onion, jalapeno peppers, and curled scallion; to curl the scallion, thinly slice it and soak it in ice water for 15 minutes, then pat dry.)
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Hi Faith,
This looks delicious! I’m wondering, do you put the cardamon, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a spice bag and then take out before serving, or do you just throw them all in, simmer, then fish them all out ?
Jan, I don’t use a spice bag; I typically try to fish them out, but a spice bag would definitely make it easier!
I make this in slow cooker over night. You really do not need to add any cream or butter if you cook it slowly. I place it on low before I sleep, then turn it up when I awake. It will thicken nicely. I really don’t use that many spices but fenugreek seeds is a must, with lots of tomato sauce that thickens it. If you really want some fat or cream, I add low fat sour cream at the very end.
When I saw the picture I thought that I am going to go to an Indian website …….am mighty impressed with that daal makhani and so proud too. It is one of those dishes that if made correctly will make you swoon. Congratulations
Yum! Delicious Faith! Made it tonight and the whole family gobbled it up. Perfect for a cold winter evening. :)
Julie, I’m so glad these were a hit!!! :)
I made this tonight – first try at Indian food – and it was fantastic. I am a great lover of Indian food and you convinced me with this recipe that home-cooked Indian food just can’t be beat!
Ah! Reminded me of my mother’s home-cooking. So indulging. Love it :)
The first time I had dal mahkani was in Christchurch, New Zealand (I live in California). I was culinarily transported. None of our local Indian restaurants serve it, so I had to do an internet search on how to make it myself. Haven’t been overwhelmed with the ones I’ve tried (too simple, I think). But yours sounds wonderful. I’ll have to give it a try. Thank you!
we do have one restaurant here that we love, and visit often.
I go through my Indian phases, where I cook a lot of dishes at home (I think I remind myself how GOOD it is…) I am definitely adding this to my list!
Hi Faith – This recipe looks so delicious! Thank you for the link love to my site and butter post too. I really appreciate the shout out! :)
Oh! this looks so delicious……better then rest. kind. This is one of my fav. dal I even love it cold stariaght out of the fridqe. I use pressure cooker to cook dal,I’m an Indian so dal is kinda everyday meal & pressure cooker makes the life so easy.
This sounds amazing Faith! Dal Makhani is one of my favorite dishes.
I think Dal Makhani is the first dal I ever tried and is the reason I love Indian food today. This sounds amazing Faith – thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
@Carly, it doesn’t seem to be made of silver, simply because of the greenish blue corrosion product on the handle, I think it’s copper.
DorisQ, Yes, because of the look of the tarnish I thought this bowl was copper too!
I’m a huge fan of cooking Indian at home. Aromatherapy!! I love cooking with all the different kinds of lentils especially. I love the beautiful dish you served your dal in – is it pewter? Silver? I’d love to know where you acquired it!
Carly, Aromatherapy is right, lol! Thanks so much, I love this bowl too…I found it at an estate sale (vintage and secondhand stores are also great places to look!). I don’t remember any identifying markings on the bottom; I’d check to make sure, but the piece is in storage right now. (I’m not 100% certain, but I think it’s made of copper.)
Awesome – this recipe came just in time! My husband and I ordered Indian take-out on Friday and this is the dish he got. We make nearly all of our food from scratch, but were lamenting that we are kind of afraid to try Indian dishes – so many spices! He’ll be excited to try this recipe – thanks!
What a beautiful dish and homemade is always best as you know exactly what goes in it. I can almost smell the lovely spices cooking. Take Care, BAM
My best friend is Indian, so I can attest to the fact that homemade is VERY different from restaurant Indian food! I adore Indian food flavors no matter how I can get em…and I definitely want some of this dal in my life!
I am trying to eat butter in moderation due to cholesterol reasons but I never say know to a finely cooked meal like this one even if I have to consume butter. It looks hearty and filling!
I just made daal makhani today :) I love adding kasori methi to it. I have been having the hardest time photographing this dish….it always comes out so shiny and looks unappetizing. Yours looks wonderful!
Glad I found you on Tasty Kitchen, looking forward to following your blog! This looks and sounds absolutely incredible.
Happy Blogging!
Your lentils sound so delicious and aromatic!
I LOVE dal makani but haven’t yet attempted to make it, thanks for sharing this!
…and do you do home delivery :P I have yet to find an Indian restaurant that I heart. Daal makhani looks soo good.
This sounds perfect for these cold winter days we’ve been having!
Girl, I love love dal makhani but mine never comes out tasty!! Need to try your version!
I could eat lentils like this for every meal! They look perfect.
I go through the same process when I go out for Indian food…I get all hot to trot and then when it comes down to it, I’m all “wah waaahhh…could’ve stayed at hom.” Except for the naan part…I’ve never made it and have definitely used a naan craving as an excuse to go out to Indian food. This recipe looks AMAZING! I’ve never had dal makhani and I’m all about trying it!
Scrumptious! The kind of food I love.
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m always meaning to try at home Indian. I’ve only had Indian food once and had such a bad experience. This dish looks awesome!
I would add chopped cilantro. too me it isn’t finished until it has cilantro.