Vegan Dal Makhani – Creamy & Delicious.

Name: Vegan Dal Makhani – Creamy & Delicious.
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 cup Urad Dal (whole),; 1/2 cup Rajma (Kidney Beans),; 7 cup Water,; 1/2 cup Cashew,; 2 Onion, medium size; 3 to 4 Tomato, medium size; 2-Inch Piece Ginger,; 4 to 6 clove Garlic, peeled; 1 to 2 tbsp Cooking Oil,; 1/2 tsp Asafoetida (Hing),; 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder,; A pinch Turmeric Powder,; Salt, to taste; 2 tsp Dhania Powder,; 1/2 tsp Garam Masala,; 1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder,; 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi,; 1/2 cup Coconut Cream, or coconut milk

I never thought that I would say this but I think I am never going to add butter or milk cream to my dal makhani. It sounds ironic because makkhan (butter) is in its name. Making it without it is like going against the law. Right 😀

But hey, butter or milk cream is added to make it rich and creamy and you can actually get that same texture and creaminess with some vegan substitutes. Don’t believe me. Try it out and thank me later.

I also have a recipe for dhaba style dal makhani too. You can make both and compare. In my opinion, it is hard to tell any difference. By the way, if you make any of these dal makhani recipes, make it a little extra so that with the leftover you can try our delicious dal makhani wraps.

STORY TIME

If you know me and follow my recipes, you know how I always try to make the recipes healthier with no compromise on the taste. For example, I made healthier strawberry cheesecake. Vegan mango cheesecake is something extremely delicious, light, and healthy too. How can I forget Non-Fried Vada Pav? So, now you know my passion and love to make healthier recipes for you all.

But a few years ago, someone asked me to make a healthier version of dal makhani. I laughed and thought that it is not possible. But I was wrong. I did it. I realized that the creaminess of dal makhani is not dependent on any butter or milk cream. The key is SLOW COOKING. Urad dal gets nice and smooth and creamy if you cook it for a long time. And to make it more creamy and rich, you can simply add cashew paste and coconut cream. Don’t worry, you won’t get coconut flavor dal makhani. It doesn’t dominate with all other ingredients added to the recipe.

If you are in hurry, watch the video instead.

SECRET OF DAL MAKHANI

You may think that the creaminess of dal makhani comes from adding a lot of cream or butter to it. That is not true. I mean, you need that but that is not the only thing to get that rich and creamy texture. The secret is – SLOW COOKING. That’s right my friend. There is no shortcut to that. You have to have patience, a lot of it while making this delicious recipe.

How Slow Cooking helps?

Well, the dal which we use in this recipe – urad dal (whole) or urad chilka – gets very starchy and creamy when you cook it for a very long time. The more you cook, the more creamy it gets. In many restaurants or dhabas, by the end of the day, when they are done with making naan or roti on the tandoor, they put this dal on it and leave it to cook overnight. Dal cooks slowly on hot coal for the entire night and that is how you get that rich and creamy texture in it.

But obviously, you can’t do that at home. Although, my Instant Pot has an option of slow cooking which I will try one day. I slow cook this dal in two parts. First, when I pressure cook urad dal and rajma together. After a whistle in the pressure cooker, I cook it on the lowest flame for another 40 to 50 minutes till it gets well cooked and mushy. Then after tempering, I add a lot of water and again cook on the lowest flame till it gets rich and creamy. That takes another 1.5 to 2 hrs. So, if you want to make it for lunch, I would suggest starting it right after breakfast. & have Patience 🙂

ADJUSTMENTS – YOU MAY WANT TO MAKE

Tempering: I added onion paste in this recipe but you can totally avoid that. I made it without onion in dhaba style dal makhani and it tastes amazing. So, you have two options. Make it either way.
Cream: I made vegan dal makhani using cashew paste and coconut cream or coconut milk. But you can make it only with cashew paste or almond paste. Just increase the quantity if you don’t want to use the coconut cream. Nut cream make it thick and creamy and gives the exact same texture as regular non-vegan dal makhani.

COCONUT CREAM – WHAT’S THAT?

Whenever I use coconut cream in my recipes, I get questions about it. People say that they couldn’t find coconut cream or from where they can buy it. Well, it is very simple to make. Just put your can of coconut milk in the coolest part of your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Open the can and Voila! You will get a thick cream on the top. Just take that out. That’s your coconut cream. Easy. Right?

HOW TO SERVE?

To have the best experience, serve it hot. It tastes best with any kind of Indian bread – chapati, paratha, naan, tandoori roti, Missi roti. We also love it with aalu paratha. You can try that. It tastes delicious.

We also serve it with some jeera rice or simple steamed rice. For the salad, we like it with some pickled onion. Or if you don’t have that, serve it with some onion and sliced cucumber.

dal makhani - ready to serve — Dal Makhani – Ready to Eat

Now grab all the ingredients because you are ready to make Dhaba-style dal makhani but vegan. Enjoy it over lunch or some weekend brunch. Make it for your friends over any house party or cook it for any celebration at home. It will be a show-stopper. Don’t believe me, TRY IT.

If you like the recipe, please share the photo on Instagram and tag us too @marriedfriends. We just love to see your recreation of our recipes.