dal makhani

• Wash the red kidney beans, then soak overnight in 1½ litres of water. When soaked, drain and rinse.
  
• Place soaked red kidney beans in a pot, cover with water and boil for at least 30 minutes. Once cooked, drain and rinse the beans and replace in the pot.
• Whilst the kidney beans boil, wash the black lentils, then set aside to soak for 30 minutes. 
  
• Add the drained black lentils, the ginger pieces and salt to the red kidney beans. Add enough water to cover by 2cm and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to very low and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add water if needed. Remove any foam that appears. The pulses are cooked when you can break them up with your fingers.
• Drain the lentils and reserve the water. Using a masher, fork, or whisk, coarsely mash the pulses leaving most of them whole. Set aside.

to cook

• Place the Kashmiri chillies in a small bowl with ½ cup of water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain, and reserve the soaking water.
• Grind the tomatoes, garlic and the soaked kashmiri chillies to a smooth paste using a little of the chilli soaking water.
• Heat a deep pan over medium heat. Once heated, add the butter and once that is hot, add the cumin seeds.
• When cumin seeds sizzle, add the black peppercorns, cloves, mace, cinnamon, cardamom pods, and the bay leaf. Add the onion, and fry for five minutes, or until onion starts to colour.
• Add the tomato, garlic and chilli paste, and the turmeric and asafoetida. Mix well, and fry for three minutes, or until raw aroma has gone.
• Add the dal to the pan and one cup of the reserved water they were cooked in. Mix well, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low.
• Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure that dal is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add a little more of reserved cooking water if needed. You want the dish to be quite thick at this stage because you will adding the cream shortly, and that will loosen the texture.
• Add the crushed fenugreek leaves and garam masala. Stir well.
• Add cream one tablespoon at a time and mix well before adding the next spoon. Mix well, and cook for a minute or so to bring dish back to a simmer. Do not allow dish to boil. Remove from heat and cover when the dish starts to simmer.

for the dhungar

• Using a set of kitchen tongs, heat the charcoal on an open flame until it gets red hot.
• Put the small metal bowl in the middle of the dal. Place the hot charcoal in the bowl.
• Drizzle the ghee over the charcoal. The charcoal will begin to smoke immediately. Cover the pan to trap the smoke. Keep it covered for two minutes only – the longer you leave it the smokier the flavour. Remove the cover and remove the bowl carefully, using your tongs.

to serve

• Turn dal into a serving dish and stir gently. Drizzle or dollop the crème fraiche over the dish. Garnish with the red onion half-rings and coriander leaves. Serve.