Dal Makhani - Creamy black lentils

Dal Makhani is a very popular north Indian side dish. It goes well with both roti and rice. "Makhani" literally translates to "Buttery" or "Creamy" and so, I thought the recipe would call for a lot of butter or cream to make it rich. Later I realized, the creaminess comes from the Urad dal itself and not from cream or butter. I used 1/2 cup of 1% milk, 2 tbsp fat free yogurt and just 1 tsp of butter for this yummy dish. Here is how I prepared it.

Ingredients:
Urad Dal (with skin) - 3/4 cup
Masoor Dal (with skin) - 1/4 cup
Rajma (Red Kidney beans) - 1/3 cup
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Tomato - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
Ginger paste - 3/4 tsp
Garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
sugar - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Yogurt - 2 tbsp
butter - 1 tsp
salt to taste
oil - 2 tsp
Garlic cloves peeled and slit in the middle (for tempering) - 4-6

Soak all the 3 dals in water overnight.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add onion and saute until transparent. You can add a little salt at this time to bring out the sweetness of the onion. Add ginger and garlic paste and fry for a minute. Keep stirring to avoid burning. Add tomato and fry for about 2 minutes. Add the drained dals, salt, sugar, red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder and turmeric powder and cover with water and pressure cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until dals are tender (4-5 whistles). Let stand for 15-20 minutes before opening.

Open the pressure cooker, add milk, stir well and bring to boil again. Add yogurt, turn the heat off and stir well. In another pan, melt 1 tsp of butter and temper garlic cloves and add this to the dal mixure. Tasty dal makhani is ready :)