Dal Makhani is the king of all dals. This is a restaurant dal, a dal to be savored with butter naans fresh out of the tandoor. Unless you live in Omaha, where what passes for dal is a sad approximation of the real thing. Here is how I make the dal makhani of my dreams. Warning- this is a slow  cook, but with minimal work other than stirring.

1) Soak 1 cup black whole urad dal and 1 cup rajma or red kidney beans seperately overnight

2) Rinse the water off. Pressure cook (I use my cuisinart pressure cooker) the dal  with about 4 cups of water and a tsp of salt for 10 minutes.

3) Separately- heat 2 tbsp of oil, add 4-5 cloves of whole garlic and cook till pale golden. Add the rajma and 4 or so cups of vegetable stock (I use water and better than bouillon). Pressure cook for 15 minutes. This is my standard quick rajma-without-spice-for-rice recipe.

4) Melt one stick of butter. Add 1-2 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 large onion. Caramelize on low heat for 20-40 minutes till dark brown but not burnt.

5) Add 2 tbsp of ginger and 2 tbsp of garlic and 1 14oz can of San Marzano tomatoes (pureed) and 1 tsp of red chilli powder (I like using the Korean gochugaru) . Cook this on low heat till the butter seperates from the paste. This takes about 15 minutes

6) Add the dal and the water and 1/2 cup of kidney beans and 1/2 cup of the kidney bean water (from the pressure cooker). Cook stirring frequently for 15-20 minutes

7) Add 1tsp of garam masala and about half a cup of heavy whipping cream

This makes enough dal for 10 people or so.  It freezes beautifully- I generally freeze half if there is a pandemic and no one to share it with