Dal- Bukhara

Dal-Bukhara

My hubby is a fan of dal-makhni and that too the one served in the restaurants in our home-town. Dal-makhni has a permanent place in the menus we order, but now we have shifted to a new place an year back and here that authentic taste is not at all available. :(

This sunday I decided to make dal makhni but i did not have whole black urad dal. Instead i was having a packet full of split black urad dal. So, I decided on making the recipe from the same. And believe me,it tasted as good as the original recipe and hubby dear was like,'Wow!!!' :) This version is popularly known as 'Dal-Bukhara'

Note: This is a high calorie version.. so peeps excuse me for the abundance of Ghee n cream and calories ;)

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Rajma/kidney beans- 1 cup

Split Black Urad Dal- 1 cup

Tomatoes- 2 big

Ginger- Garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Kashmiri Chilli powder- 1.5 tsp (u can use normal red chilli powder too)

Butter- 2tbsp

Fresh cream- 1 cup

Salt- acc to taste

sugar- 1/2 tsp

Kasuri methi- 1 tsp

Elaichi pods- 2

Ghee- 2 tsp

Jeera/Cumin- 1tsp

Turmeric pwder-1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Pick, Wash and soak Dal and rajma overnight.
2. In a pressure cooker, add both rajma and dal with the elaichi pods and a little salt. Pressure cook for about 10-12 whistles.The dals and rajma should be completely mushy. Check with a spoon. If not cooked, give some more whistles till its well-cooked.
3. Meanwhile, make a puree of tomatoes in a blender.
4. Now in a thick-bottomed kadhai/wok, add ghee. When it gets hot let the cumin seeds crackle.
5. Add the tomato puree and fry till it changes colour and the raw smell goes off.
6. Now add ginger-garlic paste. Fry again till raw smell is not there.
7. Toss in all dry spices, Chilli powder, turmeric Powder sugar and salt.Mix well
8. Now add the mushy dal+Rajma mix to the pan and stir.
9. To this add Butter( I used homemade) and stir well. 
10. Finally add fresh cream and mix well.. let the dal simmer in low flame for about half an hour. Meanwhile, toast some kasuri methi in a pan and then crush it between your palms and add the powder to your Dal. This gives the recipe a next level. Trust me!

This Dal has a tendency to sit in the bottom of the pan..so please keep a check and keep stirring to avoid it getting burnt. If your dal gets too thick you can add some milk/ hot water to adjust consistency.

Although this recipe has no onions..u can still taste the same rich taste and that's the magic! U can have it with any Indian Bread of your choice. It can also be enjoyed with hot Jeera Rice or Plain Rice too.. :)

Enjoy!