Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Vegan Dal Makhani - Black lentils and Beans in creamy buttery gravy is a vegan, vegetarian Glutenfree, Indian, Vegan dal made with whole black gram, kidney beans, and water in about 120 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 60 minutes
  • Cook time: 60 minutes
  • Total time: 120 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: dal
  • Cuisine: Glutenfree, Indian, Vegan

Ingredients

For the Lentils:

  • 1 cup whole black gram (, Urad Whole or use black lentils(see first paragraph for sub options))
  • 1/2 cup kidney beans (, Rajma)
  • 3.5 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne or to taste)

For the Tempering:

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2-3 green chilis finely chopped (I use Serrano chili pepper)
  • 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)
  • 5-6 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
  • 1 medium size onion (chopped)
  • 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 medium size tomatoes (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala (regular or punjabi)
  • 1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori methi, or Use a 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek/methi seeds-Optional)
  • 2 Tablespoons Almond milk
  • 1/3 cup Cashew milk (Blend 3 tbsp cashews in 1/3 cup water until smooth.)
  • Vegan butter such as Earth Balance as needed

Method

  1. Soak the lentils and beans overnight.
  2. Pressure cook black gram and Kidney beans in 3.5 cups of water with salt and chili powder for 3-4 whistles (25 minutes at high pressure once pressure has reached).
  3. Or use a slow cooker to cook urad beans and keep ready. Kidney beans cannot be cooked in a slow cooker from raw state, so use 1 cup cooked canned beans.
  4. In a large pan, add oil and heat on medium-high heat.
  5. Add cumin seeds and cook till they start to change color.
  6. Add ginger, garlic and green chili and saute until golden.
  7. Add onion, asafetida and cook until translucent.
  8. Add the tomato and turmeric and cook until tomatoes are mushy. (13-15 minutes till this step).
  9. Add the cooked black gram, kidney beans and the water they were cooked in.
  10. Add garam masala, fenugreek and the milks. Mix, taste and adjust salt.
  11. Add more water if the mixture is too thick.
  12. Simmer on low heat till the dals/beans are totally soft. Mash some of the lentils with the spatula. 30 minutes.
  13. Or Pressure cook for 5 minutes at high pressure once the pressure has reached. (1 whistle + simmer for 5)
  14. Top with a small dollop of vegan butter or olive oil and cilantro.
  15. Serve with Roti/Naan flatbread or Rice Pilaf or other cooked grains like Quinoa, millet.

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.