Dal Makhani

Dal makhani is the kind of dish a Punjabi restaurant would have on the back burner all day, getting darker and richer with every reheat. At home, a pressure cooker gets you most of the way there in an hour, and a long, low simmer at the end does the rest. The cream isn't the point — the long cooking is. You want the lentils to lose their shape and turn into something that's halfway between a stew and a sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole black urad (sabut urad), soaked overnight
• 1/4 cup red kidney beans (rajma), soaked overnight
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more to finish
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
• 1 green chile, slit
• 2 medium tomatoes, pureed (or 1 cup canned crushed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Kashmiri chile powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more to finish
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), crushed
• Kosher salt

Method

1. Drain the urad and rajma. Pressure-cook with 4 cups fresh water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt until the urad is completely soft and the kidney beans are creamy — 6 whistles on stovetop, about 30 minutes on an Instant Pot at high pressure. Don't drain.
2. In a heavy pot, heat the butter and oil over medium-high. Cook the onion until deep golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste and chile; cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomato puree, chile powder, cumin, and coriander. Cook until the masala thickens and the oil starts to separate at the edges, about 10 minutes.
3. Tip in the cooked dal with all its liquid. Add 1 cup water (more as needed for consistency). Bring to a simmer.
4. Now the patience part: lower the heat and let it cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every few minutes and mashing some of the urad against the side of the pot. The color will deepen and the lentils will turn creamy on their own.
5. Stir in cream, garam masala, and kasuri methi. Simmer 5 more minutes. Taste — it usually needs more salt than you think.
6. Serve with a swirl of cream and an extra knob of butter on top. Eat with naan or jeera rice.

A note: If you have time, let it sit and reheat the next day. It's better. This is the rare dish that improves overnight.