Dal Maharani/Queens of Lentils Gravy/Maharani Dal

Dal Maharani which is also known popularly as Queens of Lentils gravy have its origins from Punjab. This dish is a nutritious and very protein rich gravy which calls for Black urad dal, channa dal and Kidney beans. These three dals are cooked and enriched with couple of spice powders and fresh cream hence this dal have a very rich taste.However if you are looking for less rich and no cream gravy, you can replace the cream used in this dish with milk, yogurt of else with no dairy products. This aromatic dish can be served very much with any sort of pulaos, rotis or else simply with bread slices. Yes you have numerous choice to enjoy this rich gravy. However i served this gravy with coconut pulao which turned out our lunch more healthy and tasty as well. Obviously we had a tummy full meal and everyone at home enjoyed this nutritious dish.

Dal maharani can be served with anything, yes this dish is completely versatile. Though this dish is a delicious one, the cooking process tends to be bit long, hence Indians keep this dal for special occasions like birthdays, marriages etc. Traditional preparation of Dal maharani goes for 24 hours of cooking. But now with the availability of modern kitchen gadgets like pressure cookers, the cooking time have drastically changed to 1 to 2 hours. How wonderful na. However if you are looking for a super delicious side dish or c to gravy ,dont forget to give a try to this incredibly delicious, rich Dal Maharani.Am running this week's blogging marathon with Meal time dishes as theme, and my today's post goes for this theme.

1cup  Black gram dal/Black urad dal
1 cup Rajma/Red kidney beans
1 cup Chana dal/Bengal gram
1cup Tomatoes (chopped)
1/2cup Onion (chopped)
1tsp Chilly powder
1tbsp  Ginger (chopped)
2 Bay leaves
3 Red chilly
5 Garlic cloves
1tsp  Coriander powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/2tsp Kasoori methi
1tsp Garam masala
2tbsp  Butter
1/4cup Fresh cream
1tsp Cumin seeds
Oil
Salt

Soak the black gram and kidney beans overnight. Wash the channa dal and soak for an hour.

Heat oil in a pan, add red chilly, cumin seeds, bay leaves,.

Add the chopped onions and cook until they turns transculent,  add the chopped garlic and ginger and saute until they turns golden brown.

Add the chili powder, tomatoes, coriander powder, cumin powder, cook this till tomatoes turns mushy.

Add kasuri methi, garam masala,soaked kidney beans, soaked black gram dal, chana dal and cook for few minutes.

Transfer this mixture to a pressure cooker, add enough water.

Close the cooker with lid and cook upto  7 to 8 whistels.

Finally add the fresh cream,butter to the gravy and give a stir.

Serve with rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#95