ਦਾਲ ਮੱਖਣੀ

Meaning

Dal makhani is Punjab's most famous lentil dish: whole black urad dal simmered for hours until creamy, then finished with butter, cream and a tomato gravy. The name means buttery lentils, makhan being the Punjabi word for butter, and it is the vegetarian partner of butter chicken on Punjabi restaurant menus.

What it is

The base is sabut urad, whole black gram, soaked overnight and cooked with a little rajma, red kidney beans, until the lentils break down into a thick, creamy dal. A tadka of ghee, onion, ginger and garlic is cooked with tomato puree, chilli and garam masala until the oil separates, then stirred into the dal with kasuri methi and a knob of butter. Cream is swirled in at the end, and it is served with naan, tandoori roti or jeera rice.

Time is the real ingredient. A good dal makhani simmers on a low flame for hours, sometimes overnight, which is what turns the humble black lentil velvety. The home version, often called mah di dal or maa ki dal, is usually simpler, with less cream and no tomato.

Origin

Dal makhani is a modern dish, born in Delhi after Partition. Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi, Punjabi migrants from Peshawar, had opened Moti Mahal in Daryaganj and invented butter chicken there in the early 1950s. They wanted a vegetarian dish to stand beside it, and a regular diner suggested the black urad dal of their Peshawar days. Gujral finished it with the same makhani sauce, tomato, butter and cream, that kept his tandoori chicken moist. No Punjabi home cook had put tomato and cream into dal before.

Before Moti Mahal, whole urad dal was a Peshawar speciality, served with hot rotis. The restaurant version turned it into a dish known across India and the world.

In Punjabi life

Today dal makhani is the first vegetarian dish most Punjabi restaurants put on the menu, and the test of a dhaba's kitchen. It anchors wedding feasts, served in big handis beside butter chicken, and it is the comfort food Punjabis abroad order first.

What does dal makhani mean in Punjabi?

Dal makhani means buttery lentils: dal is lentils, and makhani comes from makhan, the Punjabi word for butter.

Who invented dal makhani?

Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi invented it at Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, Delhi, in the early 1950s, after Partition.

What is dal makhani served with?

With tandoori roti, naan or jeera rice. In Punjab it is a dhaba and wedding staple, usually served beside butter chicken.