Healthier Vegan Dal Makhani

Hello!

Today I am going to share a recipe of a dish I love, but isn't normally very good for you. Dal Makhani. My boyfriend is Indian and that means he has taught me so many good Indian dishes, but a lot of them are heavy on the butter, oil or cream, Dal Makhani being one of those dishes. If you have never had Dal Makhani you are missing out. It is a rich, and hearty, very satisfying dish. But this dish is traditionally definitely not vegan. Makhan literally means butter in Hindi so it's pretty obvious there is supposed to be a lot of that.

Dal Makhani with Rice

I wanted to have the creamy delicious dish, but with less calories. I based this recipe off of Veg Recipes of India's recipe here. Their website is absolutely amazing for vegetarian Indian dishes, but they are not vegan for the most part. There are different kinds of Dal Makhani, Dharba Style, Restaurant Style, and Home Cooked Style. This I would say is a mix between dharba and restaurant style. I replace the butter with margarine, though in the future I think I would like to try it with coconut oil instead, and I replace the cream with Silk's creamy cashew milk which is really delicious and very low in calories. The kind of lentils you need are called Urad Dal or Black Lentils see here, I find them at my local Save On or Fruiticana. You should be able to find them at an "ethnic" food store, or if you have a well stocked grocery. You want to buy the whole black lentil, not the split ones. Enjoy!

Dal Makhani

• 1 cup Urad Dal (can take out 1/4 cup and replace with 1/4 cup of red kidney beans)

• 3 cups water for pressure cooking (+extra if needs more cooking)

• ½ cup finely chopped onions

• 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped

• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste or 6 to 7 garlic + 1 inch ginger

• 2 large tomatoes or 1 cup tomato puree (I usually use salt free canned diced tomatoes and blend them)

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• 2 to 3 cloves

• 2 green cardamoms

• 1 small cinnamon stick

• 1 small to medium bay leaf

• ½ tsp red chili powder

• 1 cup of water or add as required

• ½ cup Silk Cashew Milk (You can use any plant based milk you prefer,  I find this the creamiest)

• 2 Tablespoons of Margarine

• salt as required

1. Soak lentils and kidney beans if using over night or all day in water, then drain and rinse.
2. Place the lentils and kidney beans if using in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water, place on high heat and cook for 20+ whistles. Pressure cooking is more of an art than a science and you really will just need to check a few times to see if they are done. They should be very soft, squishable between your fingers. If when you check they aren't done, add more water and pressure cook for an additional 5 whistles at a time. Once done keep the lentils, and their water aside.
3. In a heavy bottomed pot heat margarine over medium heat and then add whole spices: cumin seeds, cardamom pods, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute until they are aromatic.
4. Lower heat to medium and add the onions, cook until soft and golden.
5. Add ginger/garlic paste and green onions and cook until the raw smell of the ginger/garlic paste goes away.
6. Add tomatoes and chili powder, simmer until you see the margarine releasing from the sides.
7. Add cooked lentils and kidney beans if using, and their water to the pot, with 1 cup of water (or more if necessary) and stir. 
8. Simmer on low, with no lid for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently and adding water as necessary. It should not be too thick or thin.
9. When the gravy has thickened enough add the cashew milk, stir, and turn off the heat. It is ready!

Dal Makhani with Chapatti

You can eat dal with rice, chapatis, or naans. Feel free to throw some fresh chopped cilantro on top, I just hate cilantro with a firey burning passion.

Now that you are eating Dal Makhani, you can listen to the song Dal Makhani! It's from the movie Dr. Cabbie which is really good, about a young Indian doctor who moves to Canada for a better life. It's got comedy, drama, and romance, what more can you ask for?

Indian Inspired Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup

This soup is a modified version of the recipe here.

The recipe on that site is for a nice basic carrot soup but I wanted one that had more spices and depth. So I made it in a bit more of an Indian style, with more spices and cooked more the way Indian food is cooked. Making a sort of tarka to start, where you add the onion, garlic, ginger and spices to hot oil, and then adding the veg and liquid.  This soup is dairy free and gluten free if you don't eat it with any tasty tasty bread. 

I love anything with coconut. Except piña coladas. Tangent: one time, when my family was in hawaii we were thirsty and went into a little shop and I had no idea what a piña colada was but coconut and pineapple sounded delicious so I got a virgin piña colada. (I was like 8). One sip and I knew it was disgusting. But I felt too bad to tell my parents that I didn't like it. So, my brilliant self thought that I would just "accidentally" drop it. It made such a mess. I felt so bad. And then! The shop people offered to make me a new one and I was like no no no no please no. So we said sorry and left. Whoops. 

To me, the coconut in this soup is what really makes it. This soup is warm, creamy and spicy. A great soup for a chilly day. I don't pretend to be a chef or particularly knowledgeable but I've been cooking for my self since I was 17, experimenting with vegetarian and now vegan recipes. I used to be really scared  to stray away from recipes, but now (thanks to my boyfriend telling me to stop trusting google so much haha) I have the confidence to change recipes and adapt them to either my dietary requirements, or to my taste. Every ingredient in this recipe I would say, add more, or less, if you want! Totally dependent on your taste. This isn't too hot spice wise but you could totally add more chili, or none if you aren't a fan of heat. 

This time round I actually made it specifically to freeze, which I haven't done before with this soup so I hope it freezes ok. This soup is great for lunches. I can put it in a mason jar and eat it without a spoon. Cause obviously if I'm vegan I HAVE to put as many things as possible in mason jars. It's at thing.

Indian Inspired Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup

2 T Olive Oil

2 pounds of Carrots (about 8 medium/large)

1 medium Onion

4 cloves of Garlic

2 inches of Ginger (2 tsp ground)

1 Bay Leaf

2 Veggie Broth Cubes + 5 cups water (or just 5 cups of broth of your choice)

1 can Coconut Milk

4 tsp Curry Powder

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Red Chili Powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

1. Add olive oil to sauce pan and heat up. Add ONION, GARLIC, and GINGER. Saute until soft/lightly browned.

2. Add CURRY POWDER, CUMIN, RED CHILI, and GARAM MASALA and mix. Add water if necessary.

3.  Add chopped CARROTS and BAYLEAF and mix, then add water and bouillon cubes.

If your me, proceed to drop at least a handful of the carrots on the floor and employ the 5 second rule.

4.  Bring to a boil, then lower to medium/low and simmer until carrots are soft. 

5.When they are soft turn off heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. 

If your me just leave it until you remember that you shouldn't be playing dragon worldon your phone and should probably blend the soup now! 

6.  After it has cooled down a bit, take out the bay leaf, pour soup into blender. If it doesn't all fit, do in multiple batches. If you own an immersion blender use that instead.

7.Pour blended soup back into sauce pan, re-warm and add coconut milk. Taste and add salt if necessary.

8. Garnish with pepper and enjoy. It's super delicious with a piece of crusty bread or with a freshly made naan bread. Yum!

What was I listening to while I made this? Glad you asked.

A little bit of this:

A little bit of that: