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| Dal Makhni |
A couple of weekends back when we were driving down to Hooghly my wife was still recovering from the shocks of our horrendous drive to CoochBehar during the Pujos.We took the regular route by exiting Calcutta through the 2nd Hoogly Bridge and via Kona Expressway onto Durgapur Expressway – the road condition was excellent.But once we decended onto the Chinsurah road, the road degraded and we became extremely sceptical as to how bad the 25 kms ahead would be.But thankfully the road held its own – it was nothing great, but okayish to drive and we managed it in some 40 mins.We returned back later at night and traversed the same route.Truck lights were a problem on the Chinsurah road, but once on the Durgapur Expressway, I encountered, lit up highways for the first time.It was obviously a nice time out to visit someplace in the weekend, but I missed out on my weekend kitchen ventures – something that I compensated next week by preparing quite a spread.One of the items was Dal Makhni and it is mentioned below.
From my varous escapades to our Highway Dhabas, I have figured out that the Dhaba folks, here in West Bengal often add fried slices of green chillies and onions and some dry red chilli after preparing the Dal.This Dal Makhni included that.
Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time:30 mins.
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
- Urad Dal: 100 gms.Soak the Dal in water overnight.
- Onion: 100 gms.Sliced longitudinally.
- Ginger:Half inch.Crushed.
- Garlic: 4-5 cloves.Crushed.
- Tomato: 1 large(70-80 gms).Cut into small pieces.
- Cream: 50 gms.Whisked.
- Butter:25 gms.
- Vegetable Oil:2 tbsp
- Salt: To taste.
Whole Spices:
- Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
- Green Cardamon: 2-3
- Black Cardamon: 1
- Black Pepper:10-12.
- Jaiphal(Nutmeg):1/4 th.
- Cinnamon Stick:One 1 inch piece.
- Cloves:3-4.
Powdered Spices:
- Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp.
- Hing(Asafoetida):1/2 tsp.
Garnishing:
- Butter:20 gms.
- Vegetable Oil: 2 tbsp.
- Coriander Leaves:Handful
- Onion slices :One medium(50 gms)
- Slit green Chillies:2
- Dry Red Chilly Slices: 1.
Preparation:
- Dal:Boil the soaked urad dal in water for 17-20 mins along with some salt to taste and turmeric powder(1 tsp.mentioned in the powdered spices).Keep aside once done.
- Punjabi Garam Masala:Dry roast all the whole spices together and once aroma evolves, turn down the heat.Powder the roasted garam masala in a mortar and pestle.
- Preparing the Garnish: In 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, fry the slit green chillies, dry red chilli and the onion slices under high heat so that the onions are caramelized fast.Keep aside.
Cooking:
- Pour 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a kadai/wok.
- Once the oil is hot – add the hing,crushed ginger and garlic.
- When the aroma of the ginger-garlic mixture evolves, add the sliced onion.
- Lightly fry the onion slices till they turn brown.
- Then add the sliced tomatoes.
- Add 1/2 cup of water to the mixture.
- Stir for one minute. Then add the boiled urad dal.
- Ensure that the ingredients are mixed uniformly.
- Sprinkle some salt depending upon taste.
- Let the mixture dal cook under low heat for 15 mins, at the end of which add the butter and cream.
- Continue stirring till all the butter and cream has dissolved in the dal.
- Spread the powdered Punjabi Garam Masala over the dal and mix for a couple of mins.
- Add the fried onion,red chilli and green chilli at the end and stir for sometime.
- The dal should be ready by this time.
- Garnish with solid butter and coriander leaves.
Serve with paranthas.
