Here's another Indian pantry staples dish that you will love - my Vegan Dal Makhani. I make this all in my Instant Pot, but you can certainly make it in a regular pot. Just be sure to cook your lentils and kidney beans fully before putting in the rest of the ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole urad dal
1/2 cup red kidney beans
1/4 cup cashews (soaked and blended with 1/2 cup water) - the cashew cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon kasuri methi
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, grated
1" piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chili powder (or more if you like it spicy - I sure do!)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
A pinch of hing/asafetida
2 tablespoons tomato paste or 2 tomatoes
Cilantro, for garnish
Directions:
1. Soak your lentils and kidney beans in plenty of water for at least 8 hours. If you're using a regular pot: (after soaking) rinse, drain, and cook these until tender before moving to the next steps.
2. Turn your Instant Pot on sauté mode and drizzle in some olive oil. Add in the cumin seeds and methi (if you have it). Once they become fragrant, add the onions, garlic, ginger, garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric, coriander, hing, and tomato paste.
3. Stir to combine and let these ingredients party it up for about 3-5 minutes before you add in the soaked lentils and kidney beans that have been drained. Add in water and salt.
4. Cook on the manual setting at high pressure for about 35 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
5. Add in the light cashew cream and mix through. Garnish with cilantro and devour!
I love to melt some vegan butter with a little more red chili powder and pour it over my dal makhani. It tastes delicious that way! Believe it or not, we finished this entire amount in one day. It was just too good!
Enjoy this with some rice, roti, or even just regular bread if you'd like. This is also a great dal to have with some 'jeera rice," which you can make by first toasting ~2 teaspoons cumin seeds in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, adding in 1 cup of cooked rice, and mixing together.
That's it for now. I hope you're all keeping safe!