Slow Cooker Dal Makhani

We bought a slow cooker/rice cooker 2-in-1 a few months ago from Costco. To date, I've used it 3 times, for cooking brown rice mostly. That worked out great. For my first attempt of using the slow cooker, I decided I would make dal makhani because it's the way they make it at the Indian restaurants- nice and slow - to achieve its' signature effects of creaminess and richness.

I stumbled upon this recipe a while ago and slipped it into my recipe archive. I thought it would be a good way to start, but I thought something was strange when the recipe called for 8 cups of water! Having been the first time I used the cooker, I thought maybe the lentils triple in size or the water would eventually burn out. Once I pushed the "start" button, there was no going back. After 7 hours, the lentils were nice and cooked, but there was way too much water. So, using a colander, I drained most of the brown frothy water out, leaving about 2 cups for the finished product. It still turned out to be too much, but it was dinner time and dinner had to be served. I was very disappointed at the outcome, but we ate the dal "soup" anyway with brown rice. The flavor was great, but it was way too runny. After dinner, I transferred the soup to the stovetop to burn out the excess water. That was the best thing I could have done to save the day. The leftovers were served for lunch the next day, and it was wonderful, amazing, restaurant-style-finger-licking-good! You could definitely taste the creaminess and that it had been slow cooked for hours. Lucky for us, we still have more leftovers so into the freezer it goes for another day. Perhaps, I might serve it with Palak Paneer and Jeera rice for a true night of Indian Dine-In.

Ingredients:
2 onions, finely chopped (1 ground into paste and 1 chopped)
1 1/2 cups whole sabut urad dal, dry (aka black Beluga lentils)
1/2 cup rajma (aka dry kidney beans)
2 tsp garlic paste or 4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp green chili paste
7 cups water (original recipe has 9 cups!)
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes or tomato puree of 3 tomatoes
4 tbsp skim milk
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tsp plus more per taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder

Method:
1. Soak urad dal and rajma separately in water overnight.
2. Drain and wash under a few changes of water and add to slow cooker pot.
3. To slow cooker (along with lentils) add butter, water, ginger and green chili paste. Only add 1 tsp of garlic paste along with the paste of 1 onion and about 2 tsp salt. Set slow cooker on HI for one hour. [I turned it on before dropping kids off to school because I knew I was going to be back home within the hour.]
4. An hour later, turn cooker down to LO setting and let cook for 6 hours.
5. Heat about 2 tbsp oil in pan. Add the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Let them crackle. Add asafoetida, garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, and coriander powders along with 1 tsp garlic paste. Stir fry spices for about a minute.
6. Add the onions to the tadka seasoning and cook for few minutes until soft. Add can of tomatoes or puree (is using) next and cook until tomatoes cook down. Take it off of the heat, add the milk and liquidize mixture (if using the can of tomatoes like I did.)
7. Add the pureed spiced tomatoes to the slow cooker and cook the dal makhani for the last hour on LO.
8. Garnish with chopped cilantro and cream and serve hot with jeera rice and naan.

The effort was well worth it, and I will never make the same mistake again. A few other recipes say to use 2 cups so I'll start from there ...for another day! I might also just put everything in the pot (tadka, masalas, cooked onions and tomatoes with the soaked and uncooked lentils) and let it all marry and cook for 8 hours (1 hour on HI and 7 on LO). I hope you try it (with my revisions of course) in your slow cooker because this Slow Cooker Dal Makhani recipe is one that will leave a lasting impression

If you are still not convinced enough by now to go out and buy yourself a slow cooker, click here for the stovetop version of dal makhani. Keep in mind that recipes vary based on the brand of the slow cooker, so that is how I justify my first night's fiasco. As I stated earlier, the slow cooker I used is from Costco. The brand is Aroma and it is a 20 cup slow cooker, rice cooker and steamer in one. I'll testify that the slow cooker is worth the $30 investment. This one dish serves 6 people generously, which more than pays for itself. :)