happy birthday...

Remember when we all used to wish each other happy birthday here instead of that other place?

Seems like a thing to bring back. So, happy birthday dpolicar!

Dal Makhani

This recipe now reflects non-zero actual understanding of the dish (unlike the first time I made it) and has been edited accordingly. Like the other Indian recipes here it is not in final form and I will continue to tweak it, especially for spicing.

Rinse and soak 1 cup of lentils in 2-3 cups of water until they have expanded to about 2.5x volume, which will take 6 hours or so (it's OK to leave them longer). When you're ready to start the rest of the recipe, strain and rinse well.

Put up a kettle for the 1 cup of hot water below.

In a saucepan or maybe on saute mode in an instant pot, cook

1t cumin seeds in
a little bit of avocado oil, until they sizzle. Add

1c diced onion

and saute for 3 minutes. Add

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine
1T grated fresh ginger

and cook for another 2 minutes. Add

1/2t salt
1/2t turmeric
2t garam masala
2t ground coriander
1t paprika

The recipe can be held here, and the resulting base is similar enough to other recipes up to this point that you can make a big batch for multiple dishes.

Put the mixture into the instant pot, if it's not already, along with the lentils and

1 cup diced tomatoes, plus their juice (2/3 of a can, if using canned tomatoes)
1 cup hot water

and cook on high pressure for 35-40 minutes. Add

1/2 cup canned kidney beans (1/3 of a can)
1/2t garam masala
1t butter
2T heavy whipping cream
2T chopped fresh fenugreek (every recipe I've seen says you can't sub for this, but actually you could totally sub cilantro here and it'd be different but tasty)

Simmer for at least 15 minutes (more is better) and serve.

Makes a little more than 2 pints.