Dal Makhni - Rich and Luscious

I've always loved the dal makhni served in restaurants and can simply polish off the bowl without any accompaniments. With the rains in Madras almost every evening, there's a craving for something hot and delicious. This rich and creamy soup can be eaten as is or with steamed jeera rice / chapatis.

Ingredients

Black urad (whole urad) - 1/2 cup
Tomato puree - 1 cup
ginger - 1" - peeled and chopped
garlic cloves - 2 - 3 peeled
green chilli - 2 - 3
salt - to taste

Fresh cream - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp


Method:

Soak the lentils overnight and change the water at least twice.

Pressure cook the lentils along with green chilli, ginger and garlic. Drain the excess water and mash the lentils well.

In a saucepan, melt some butter, add cumin. Once it splutters, add the tomato puree and bring it to a boil. Add the mashed lentils, chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and let it simmer. Add the fresh cream and butter and cook covered for 15 minutes, until the gravy thickens into a creamy luscious soup.

To get the rich brown color, you can either add food color or saffron soaked in warm milk.