Restaurant-Style Dal Makhani - You've got to try this creamy delicious lentil curry that graces the menus of Indian restaurants worldwide. Learn how to replicate the flavors of this traditionally slow-cooked curry quickly in an Instant Pot
Wash and rinse the kidney beans and whole urad dal using a colander. Soak it in 3 cups of water overnight or for at least 5-6 hours.
Set the Instant Pot to 'Sauté' mode and adjust the setting to ’Normal'. When the display reads 'Hot', add oil or ghee (if using).
Add cumin seeds once the oil is hot. As the cumin seeds start to sputter, add the spices - bay leaf, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick. Fry them for 30 seconds or so, and then add onions.
Fry the onions till they are soft and translucent. Add ginger and garlic. Fry them for a minute so that the raw taste disappears.
Add tomatoes along with turmeric powder, chili powder, and salt. Mix well.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes till the tomatoes turn mushy. If using pureed tomatoes, cook till it comes to a boil.
Drain the water from the soaked beans and dal. Add the beans, dal, and water. Mix well. [Note: Use 2 cups of water for a thicker curry or 2.5 cups for a runnier one. I prefer using 2.5 cups since the curry thickens as it cools down]
Cover the Instant Pot. Move the vent to the sealing position.
Pressure cook under high pressure for 35 minutes.
Once cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release on its own (will take about 15-20 minutes). Open the lid and stir.
Optional step for enhanced taste - Set the valve to venting, choose the slow cook option and select the 'Less' setting. Cover the Instant Pot and slow cook for 2 hours.
Add garam masala and cream (if using) and mix well. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Serve hot with a sliver of butter.
Notes
Tips
If time permits, slow cook for an hour to two on low heat to make it even more delicious.
Brown rice takes about the same time to cook as dal makhani. So if you have a stackable container, you could cook the rice along with it. To do so, add brown rice along with water in the stackable container. Place a tall trivet over the gravy and keep the stackable container over it.
Although one cup of sabut dal + kidney beans may not seem sufficient, remember the kidney beans double up when soaked overnight. This recipe easily serves 6 adults.
For stovetop pressure cooker -
Follow the same steps as the Instant Pot one to make the base gravy.
Add the drained soaked kidney beans and dal to the stovetop pressure cooker.
Pressure cook it over medium heat it with 3 cups of water. Wait till the vent goes off 5-6 times. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
Variations
Adding whole spices to any dish makes it more flavorful but if you don't have them handy, feel free to skip it.
Garam masala is also optional. The combination of kidney beans and sabut urad dal is so flavorful that all it needs is salt and chili powder. On the same note, you can skip the butter and cream as well.
For a vegan dal makhani - Replace the cream with coconut cream and butter with either oil or vegan butter.