A creamy, decadent green lentil dal makhani style curry that is simple to make at home in one pot! Serve this vegetarian delight with naan bread or rice.
Today we’re turning a restaurant favorite into an easy weeknight meal…
When eating in an Indian restaurant or ordering Indian takeout, dal (also known as dahl or dhal) is an essential side order for me. Fresh naan bread dipped in dal makhani = pure bliss. So I set out to make a recipe for a homemade dal makhani inspired dish that would hit the spot when we craved curry but didn’t want to splash out on takeaway.
After several iterations, I think this one finally nails it.
This is not an authentic recipe, and the fact it is cooked quite quickly comes with an inevitable trade off on its depth of flavor. But I find this strikes the balance well, giving us an inexpensive, tasty, warming meal made with supermarket essentials that I usually have to hand.
Why use green lentils for dal?
Typically, dal makhani is made with black lentils, which makes for a gorgeous visual finish. (I have slow cooker black lentil dal makhani recipe right here which you might wish to try on another day). I accept that standard green lentils can’t compete with that! They are also a little softer, not holding their shape the same way as black lentils do.
But green lentils are readily available, cheap and faster cooking so that is the compromise we make. And I actually do love the silky finish they bring to the table, sort of a halfway point between a chana dal (with red or yellow lentils) and a black lentil dal.
If brown lentils are more available to you, I have tested this recipe with brown lentils too and they swap in just fine!
You can also use puy (french green) lentils which don’t get as soft but will take a little longer to cook. My video shows the recipe being made with these lentils.
What spices do I need?
I tried to keep the spice profile mainstream and supermarket friendly. We use a mix of fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, chili powder, tumeric and garam masala.
Fenugreek seeds aren’t common enough to have a guaranteed place on your shelf, but they’re widely available in supermarkets so pick some up and you might find you love cooking with them. Swap in mustard or even fennel seeds if you need to – both are delicious in dal!
Garam masala is a sweet and fragrant spice mix blend. The exact combo of spices will depend on the one you buy, but if you have a choice, look for one with a high ratio of sweet spices (things like coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and allspice).
Do I need fresh tomatoes or can I swap in canned / pureed / paste?
I’ve tried this recipe with all three, and fresh tomatoes have the edge for me. I just prefer the way they melt into the sauce and give some flavor and freshness without that concentrated tomato flavor you would get from using canned or jarred.
But if you really need this to be a pantry meal, you can absolutely swap in a few tablespoons of tomato paste or around 1 cup (140ml) of passata (pureed tomatoes). It’s not my favorite way, but it’s certainly not bad!
How to Serve your Dal
This needs nothing more than some microwave rice and premade naan to be a delicious and filling meal, but if you’re looking to go the extra mile, here are some ideas for accompaniments:
- Get some extra veggies on the plate with an easy rice pilaf such as this Mushroom Rice Pilaf with Pistachios or this Sweet Potato Rice Pilaf.
- Top with paneer or tofu skewers, or spiced roasted vegetables.
- Serve alongside a green curry such as Kale Paneer Curry or Slow Cooker Saag Aloo.
Making Ahead and Storing
This is a great dish to make ahead of serving, because after being in the fridge overnight it tastes even better. Eat from the fridge within 3 days, or freeze for 3-4 months.
Green Lentil Dal Makhani
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 6 small cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 Tbsp ginger, crushed
- 4 small – medium fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, crushed, see notes
- ½ tsp chili powder, see notes
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 200 g (1 cup) dried green lentils
- 400 g (14 oz) can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 60 ml (0.25 cups) double cream / heavy cream
- 25 g (2 tbsp) salted butter
- salt & pepper to taste
- ½ bunch cilantro (fresh coriander), for topping
Instructions
- In a medium-large saucepan, heat a glug of olive oil and saute the onion until soft.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Mix for another minute or so until the fragrances start to release.
- Add the tomatoes a half of the butter (holding the rest back to mix in at the end) and simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they break down and start to reduce.
- Add the chili powder, turmeric and garam masala and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the kidney beans, green lentils and 2.5 cups (600ml) of water.
- Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft. (That's just a minimum – you can leave it simmering longer if you like.)
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the cream and butter.
- Let set for about 5 minutes before serving, with cilantro (coriander) for topping.
I really wish there was nutritional information.
There is now! So sorry, I left it off by mistake but have just added it in at the bottom of the recipe card 🙂
I am confused. The recipe states it makes enough for 8 people but the nutritional information is for 1/4th the recipe. Is this recipe for 4 or 8 people? I would love to try it, without cream or butter, for my vegan family but I need to know if I should double the recipe.
Sorry for the confusion! As a main dish I’d say 4 servings, as a side dish I’d say 8. I will edit the post to make this clearer as soon as I get a chance. Hope you enjoy it – without cream or butter I’d definitely add a little coconut milk!
What if you are vegan?
A few tablespoons of coconut milk would be really nice! And some coconut oil and extra salt to account for the lack of butter too.
This looks delicious! I’ve just discovered my meat-loving fella really likes lentils so can’t wait to try this 🙂
Yay! Hope you both enjoy it 🙂
This is a lovely recipe. I added quite a bit of salt and a large sprinkling of sugar to balance out the spices. Delicious, thank you!
Thank you for this recipe it’s really good! And for all the info on the ingredients beforehand. Carry on the good work. 😊
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Glad you enjoyed it!
We loved this recipe. I replaced the butter with coconut oil and avoided the cream, to make a vegan version, and it was delicious. Thanks so much for it.
A great dish – thank you for sharing. I ate mine with some plain smoked fish and it was great.
looks good,lm giving a try to eat even less meat than l do now.
Hey wow! I’m surprised to see a person from the UK liking Indian food! Of course, I know to cook this. Yet, I tried this way and the taste was awesome! Actually, it was quite better than my usual makhani – I’m not sure how!
Thanks a ton for these recipes, love to you and your kids, your family! xoxo
Take care, stay safe!
Is it one tbsp fresh ginger or dried ginger?
Fresh!
Hi there,
There’s a lot of garlic in this recipe! Presumably you can use less if not so keen on garlic. Otherwise looks great and will try it tonight. Only have dry ingredients though. 😕
Thank you!
Yes I go large on garlic for sure, though I’d say 6 cloves would be smaller cloves, 3 if they’re larger cloves, I will update the recipe to clarify that. You can certainly reduce the amount, no worries at all. Enjoy!
I ended up doubling it to use the rest of the lentils I had on hand and this was a major win! Wonderful flavor and I can’t wait to have it as leftovers since I know the flavors will just get better with a few days in the fridge. Thanks for the great recipe!
Probably the worst Dahl recipe I’ve tried. Just tastes like Garam masala
I’m sorry you had a bad experience with my recipe. Admittedly I’m a little heavy handed on the garam masala with this one, I do love the stuff and it makes this a fairly accessible recipe. I hope you were able to find a way to alter the recipe more to your tastes so you could still enjoy your dinner.
Can we hold the crème? If so what would we use instead? Sans coconut milk. My family doesn’t like.
You can just the leave the cream out, if you’re happy with a more soupy finish you don’t really need to replace it. Add more water if it’s too thick. Otherwise, if coconut milk is not an option, maybe cashew cream or oat cream would be an idea?
Fantastic. Just what I was craving. Perfect spices.. thank you for the recipe.
Can you freeze this dish?
Yes! It freezes well for a few months 🙂
Loved this. I accidentally used split green peas (instead of green lentils), and ended up having to add another 3/4 cup of boiling water, letting the daal cook longer, but it came out delicious! Later on I watched your video and I see you seem to be using French Green Lentils (Puey Lentils) — different from green lentils from the Indian store, for example. Do you recommend using the french greens vs. regular green lentils?
I’m so glad this turned out well for you even using split green peas. I love using normal green lentils for this – my photos show it with normal green lentils. My videographer used french green lentils when she made the video and that works great too – you can see there’s a little difference in the texture where those lentils stay a little firmer – but I think the normal green lentils are my favorite and they are the cheapest ones too.
Ah OK–so good to know, Christine, thanks for explaining that! I’ll try it again with regular store bought green lentils and see how it unfolds. Really delicious and pretty straightforward too. I’d say the longest task was chopping four tomatoes, ha! Thanks so much for sharing these recipes with us, I look forward to trying others of yours as well.
My wife and I made this recipe and we absolutely loved it! It had wonderful flavor and we will definitely be making it again. Thank you for the recipe.
That’s great to hear, thanks so much for the feedback!
I’ve really struggled to find fenugreek seeds – could I replace them with Fenugreek Leaves?
If so – in what quantity and when to add to the recipe?
Many thanks
Chris
Hi Chris, any chance you can get mustard seeds? They’re a more appropriate swap. Fenugreek leaves are quite different to the seeds.
Looks more like 4 servings!! Recipe is not updated just FYI. Thank you, delicious.
Delicious! I skipped the dairy by using homemade cashew cream (raw cashews blended with just enough nondairy milk to cover till smooth).
Hello, would you recommend fresh ginger or dried ginger for this recipe?
Fresh is my preference (I actually buy chopped frozen ginger to avoid all the grating!) but dried will certainly work, my videographer used dried when she made the video for this and was happy with the result.
Excellent recipe. Have made it many times. Thank you for the recipe.
I love this!! I made it tonight. I tripled the garlic and doubled the seasonings. lol. We love super strong flavors. It’s delicious
I made this last night and really liked the flavor profile! The spice blend is really pleasant. I did make a few substitutions– I used Indian garlic/ginger paste for the garlic and ginger to make it easier. I also added paneer(for protein and also because I’m obsessed with it) and used Greek yogurt instead of cream(it made it a little more sour than I think it would have been with cream, but in a positive way). I did have to cook it longer than stated to soften the lentils, but my green lentils may have been a different variety.
Thank you for the recipe! This was a great way to use some pantry items; it provided great guidance for making my lentils into a curry. I agree with the recommendation to serve with naan or rice; that will create a complete protein in combination with the beans and lentils.
WOW! Great recipe! We omitted cream, kidney beans, and fenugreek because we had none on hand. We swapped for mustard seeds, and I also added about a cup of finely chopped radish greens that were too prickly for eating raw. I didn’t have cumin seeds so we used powder and added it in after cooking the whole spices. We only had 1.5 tomatoes so I added a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste. We used oat milk, little by little, at the end to make it creamy.
Man was this amazing! I was blown away at how good this turned out! This has gotta be a no-fail recipe, and great base for swaps and additions! This will be a staple in our house, thank you so very much!
Delighted to hear that it worked so well for you and that it proved to be flexible!