Dal Bukhara
Punjabi delicacy – patiently slow cooked whole urad dal
This is a beautifully simple dish, minimal ingredients, very little preparation and its oh so flavor.
Dal Bukhara is slightly different from Dal Makhani, although both use black whole lentils, Dal makhani has red kidney beans as well and uses more spices and onions. Dal bukhara is simpler to make just time consuming. Its a very sustainable food to make as black urad dal can be stored for months and its packed with nutrients. Traditionally it was made by the working class in northern india, to take advantage of the already hot tandoor oven from the day, and slow cook the dal in it overnight – truly sustainable!
I wish I had a hot tandoor oven in my kitchen that I could leave stuff cooking overnight in. The only thing you will find in my kitchen overnight is a sink full of dishes 😛 So, in the recipe below we will mimic the process to slow cook it and smoke it using some smoked paprika. You can also smoke it with coal, if you have it. But I figured smoked paprika – just a sprinkle of it – did wonders.
This recipe serves 5-6 people, I normally make it in bulk and store it in the freezer in smaller containers. Freezes very well for up to a month. that way if I make this amount, Me and husband are good to go for three meals!
You will Need:
*NOTE* For some ingredients, I have linked the brand/ specific kind that I use for convenience. By clicking on the link, you will be directed to either another recipe on my website or to Amazon.com.
1 cup black lentil (whole urad dal) – soaked overnight
2 large cloves of garlic crushed
4 tbsp cup ghee
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
¼ tsp hing (asafetida)
2 large tomatoes – blanched, deskinned and pureed
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tomato paste (canned) or tomato ketchup
1 tsp Kasuri methi
Salt
sugar
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fresh cream
Procedure:
• Thoroughly wash the urad dal (5-6 times) and soak overnight.
• Pressure cook the dal with the crushed garlic till completely mushy – mash after
• In a separate pan take 4 tbsp ghee and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Once the jeera crackles, add the ginger garlic paste and tomato puree and paste. If you don’t have tomato paste, use kethchup.
• Cook this mixture till oil starts to leave on the sides. At this point add the dry spices – chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric.
• Cook well till the fat starts leaving the sides
• Mix this sauce and the cooked mashed dal in a heavy bottom pan.
• Add 4 tbsp butter, salt and sugar (if you added ketchup instead of tomato paste, you amy not need to add sugar) – add water to adjust the consistency
• Mix thoroughly and let cook covered on a low flame for 1 hour.
• Stir once in a while to make sure it does not stick to the bottom and keep adding water as needed. It will be best to use a heavy bottom pan for this.
• Once the dal starts looking smooth and homogenous, its done. Add additional red chilli powder if you feel the need. I also added just a sprinkle of smoked paprika to give it a smoky flavor. You can also smoke it with coal.
• Finish with some cream and crushed kasuri methi.
• Turn of the flame, and serve hot garnished with some more fresh cream, butter and cilantro.
• This dal is best served with naan and/ or jeera rice