Dal Bukhara is a rich, creamy slow-cooked whole black gram (urad dal) recipe with with tomato puree, butter and cream. This recipe was made famous by ITC Maurya Hotel in Delhi.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 480 minutes
  • Cook time: 120 minutes
  • Total time: 600 minutes
  • Yield: 6
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups whole black gram (or whole urad dal (black matpe, urad bean))
  • 250 grams tomatoes (or 3 medium to large tomatoes)
  • 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste (or 1 inch ginger + 4 to 5 medium garlic cloves- crushed finely in a mortar-pestle)
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or deghi mirch (- if using a hotter variety then use ½ teaspoon)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 90 to 100 grams white butter (or regular butter - about 6 to 7 tablespoons white butter)
  • 7 to 8 tablespoon light cream (or 25% to 30% fat or 3 to 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream)
  • 4.5 to 5 cups water (for pressure cooking the lentils)
  • 1 to 1.5 cup water (- to be added later)
  • 1 inch ginger (- julienned for garnish, optional)
  • 1 tablespoon butter (or cream for garnishing, optional)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Preparation

  1. Soak the lentils in enough water overnight or for 7 to 8 hours.
  2. Drain them later and rinse a couple of times. Transfer the lentils to a 3 or 4 litre pressure cooker.
  3. Add 4.5 to 5 cups water and pressure cook the lentils for 16 to 18 whistles or about 18 to 20 minutes on medium heat.
  4. When the lentils are getting cooked, make a fine, smooth puree of the tomatoes in a blender and crush the ginger and garlic to a paste in mortar-pestle.

Making dal bukhara

  1. When the pressure settles down on its own, open the lid of the pressure cooker.
  2. Then add the ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree, Kashmiri red chili powder, butter, cream and salt. Also add 1 to 1.5 cups of water.
  3. Stir very well and keep the pressure cooker on low heat, without its lid on. Let the dal simmer for about 1 hour or 1 hour 30 minutes.
  4. Keep stirring often, so that the lentils don't stick at the bottom of the cooker. Also mash some of the lentils while stirring.
  5. If the dal becomes thick, then add some hot water. Once done, check the taste and add more red chili powder or salt if required.
  6. Lastly sprinkle garam masala powder and stir well.
  7. While serving Dal Bukhara, dot with butter or cream. Garnish with ginger juliennes (optional).
  8. Serve hot with jeera rice or with Indian flatbreads like naan, paratha or roti.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.