Vegan Dal Makhani (Black Lentil Dal)
If you love Indian food and food with flavour, you’ll love this vegan dal makhani recipe (aka black lentil dal). This recipe is typically made using whole urad dal or black gram that can be found in most Indian supermarkets and online. However, I wanted to use a different legume that is a bit more accessible.
For this recipe, I’ve chosen to use black beluga lentils as they’re available in most bulk food stores and supermarkets. I try and make my recipes as accessible as possible. I don’t like to use too many ingredients that you need to go to specialty stores to find.
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What is the difference between black beluga lentils and urad dal?
The difference between black beluga lentils and whole urad dal is that beluga lentils are more like a disk-shaped smaller lentil and the urad dal looks more like a whole mung bean—but black. They tend to cook for longer and are a little creamier. They do keep their shape very well even when cooked for an extended period of time.
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So if you have urad dal handy, feel free to use that instead. You’ll need to soak them overnight and cook them a little longer than instructed in this recipe. I would add about 10-15 minutes extra.
What you see above are the black beluga lentils. There are plenty of health benefits of black beluga lentils. Here are just a few:
- They’re high in plant proteins
- Excellent source of fibre, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc and folic acid
- Rich in polyphenols
- Plus so many others!
What is dal makhani called in English?
A very popular dish in India, dal makhani is typically an urad dal, and kidney bean (butter) curry made using butter and heavy cream. Directly translated it means “lentils with butter”.
This vegan version instead uses coconut cream to make it creamy. If you want to take it to the next level and make it even creamier, you can blend half of the beluga lentils before adding them to the pot, so you have a rich and thick consistency.
The other legume used in this dal is the red kidney beans. You can cook them yourself from the dry beans, but I chose to use a can as it cuts down on cooking time in prep for the recipe. As kidney beans are much bigger than beluga lentils, they would have to cook for much longer.
This way, you can rinse them and add them to the pot when you add the cooked beluga lentils.
What can you eat with dal makhani?
When I eat out, I typically crave Italian or Indian food. I struggle to go past a good curry or a beautiful handmade pizza.
You can serve this delicious dairy-free dal makhani with the following:
- Rice
- Naan
- Roti
- Paratha (Indian stuffed bread)—something I might experiment with at some point!
- Smashed Curry Roasted Potatoes
If you can’t have coconut or don’t have any on hand, you can switch it out for cashew cream. Blend a handful of raw cashews and add enough water to just cover the cashews. Add this cream towards the end of cooking time when you add the coconut cream. That will thicken up the dal even more!
A few tips for this black lentil recipe
Here are a few tips to get this recipe tasting delicious and one that you’ll keep going back to when you’re in the mood for some dal or curry.
- Make sure you cook the spices first in oil to help them release their flavour. Add in the whole spices first, then the ground as you don’t want them to burn.
- Adding the crushed fenugreek leaves (Kasuri or kasoori methi) at the end will really round out the flavour, but if you don’t have them or can’t find them, then you can leave them out. It will still taste delicious!
- When initially cooking the lentils separately, you can add a couple of drops of oil so that the water doesn’t foam as much while cooking.
- The lentils can be cooked in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes on high pressure. Once it finishes cooking, allow the pressure cooker to release pressure naturally, this should take about 10 minutes.
I hope you love this black lentil dal as much as I do. I have plenty of other curry recipes like this Palak Sweet Potato Paneer, Vegan Matar Paneer with Tofu, Cauliflower Potato Curry with Coconut Milk, and one of my favourites, this Creamy Red Lentil Curry.
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Vegan-Friendly)
- Vegan Matar Paneer with Tofu
- Cauliflower Potato Curry with Coconut Milk
- Coconut Red Lentil Dahl
- Palak Sweet Potato Paneer
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.
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Vegan Dal Makhani (Black Lentil Dal)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Lentil Cooking Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
Description
This creamy vegan dal makhani, a traditional Indian dal, is an easy curry that the whole family will enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black beluga beans
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf (preferably the Indian variety)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (curry powder will also work)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-inch piece of ginger, minced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup pureed tomatoes*
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- ⅓ cup red kidney beans (cooked, from a can)
- ⅓ cup / 70g coconut cream (or full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves, crushed (optional)
- Salt, to taste
To serve: (optional)
- Fresh red chillies
- Coriander/cilantro
- Basmati rice
- Naan
Instructions
- Soak the beluga lentils overnight and pick through and remove any little rocks.
- The next day, give them a good rinse and add 3 cups / 750ml of fresh water to the pot, and cook for around 25-30 minutes with the lid half on. (If using urad dal, cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.) Once cooked, drain them and set them aside.
- In a deep bottomed saucepan on medium heat, add the oil, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and cumin seeds. Cook while stirring for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the ground spices—turmeric, coriander, garam masala and cook for a further couple of minutes while stirring.
- Add in the onion and stir together, followed by the ginger and garlic. Cook further until the spices release a deep aroma, without burning.
- Add in the tomato puree and cayenne pepper and let it simmer for around 5 minutes.
- Add in the cooked lentils and beans with 1½ cups / 375ml of boiling water. Cook for around 30 minutes with the saucepan lid on. If it seems a little too loose or watery, remove the lid halfway through the cooking time.
- Once cooked, stir in the coconut cream/milk and fenugreek leaves (if using), cooking for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
- Serve with a sprinkle of coriander/cilantro, chillies, and a side of rice. Naan is also a perfect addition.
Notes
Tomatoes: You can use fresh tomatoes, passata, or canned tomatoes. Just puree them in a blender before using if they are chunky.
- Diet: Vegan
I made this and it was very tasty, I didn’t have kidney beans so only used the black lentils, I didn’t have turmeric or Garam masala so I used curry powder, I also cooked this in my ninja foodi, so I basically followed all of your steps for sautéing the aromatics, I didn’t boil the lentils before hand and added enough water and the coconut cream at the same time. It was absolute perfection in 15 minutes!
Delicious! I simmered it for a few hours longer after adding the final ingredients (coconut milk and fenugreek leaves), because it’s a weekend and I had the time. The kidney beans (canned) have a lovely creamy texture and the beluga lentils are still firm enough to hold their shape so there’s a diversity of textures.
So thrilled you enjoyed it, Tara! I’m sure it would’ve tasted even better with that extra cooking time x
This recipe is marvelous! Indian food is my favorite so I am always looking for new recipes. I altered it some (no kidney beans and no tomatoes were the biggest changes. I added pumpkin instead.)
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your alterations and for the lovely review 🙂
Can I use white/ navy pinto beans instead of the kidney beans?
You sure can. Just keep in mind that they are softer and some may already have broken up a little in the can. I would add them 15 minutes later.
The recipe calls for coconut cream – usually thats sweet. Do you mean coconut milk?
Unsweetened canned coconut cream is what I use. If you use coconut milk, it may be a little looser but will still work.
If using canned, would you suggest tomato sauce? Or chopped tomatoes, stewed etc.? Thanks!
For canned tomatoes (diced or whole), just give them a quick blend in your blender so that they’re smooth before using. Hope you enjoy!
Do we drain the cooked beluga lentils before adding them??
Yes, you do 🙂
Lovely recipe. I did it just as the recipe says and it is perfect with fluffy rice.
I have a question … do you drain the lentils after you cook them or use that water you just simmered them in?
You drain them. Sorry, I missed mentioning that in the instructions.
Made with urad dal; didn’t have any kidney beans so just left them out. Otherwise made as written, including the fenugreek leaves (dried) and it was delicious.
This came out so good! I don’t have much experience cooking Indian food and I’d never actually tasted dal makhani before, so I followed the recipe very closely, with one sub- I was not able to get fresh ginger from my grocery so I used 1/4 tsp of ginger powder. There’s a very deep, complex, comforting flavor from all the toasted spices, and the coconut cream makes it JUST rich enough. Very satisfying dish and well-written recipe!
Thanks from the Czech republic!!!! Absolutely perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it Iveta 🙂
So many spices!!! But they all blend together perfectly, I subbed some adzuki beans I had on hand for the red kidney beans and I also happened to have some fresh turmeric on hand so added that with the ginger and garlic. Served over brown rice. Was really an easy dish to put together and I look forward to making it again and again!
This is absolutely delicious!! Thank you!
Yay, glad you enjoyed it, Anna!
I’m excited to make this with my kids today. Is it enough to feed 4 and still have plenty of leftovers? If not, I’ll double it but also don’t want so much that we’re eating it 6 nights in a row. 🙂
Hi Lacey, sorry I’m only getting back to you now! You won’t have many leftovers as it does feed four people. If you double it, it will be enough for 2-3 meals depending on how much your family eats and how old your kids are 🙂 Hope that helps!
Outstanding! My absolute favorite vegan black dal yet! So easy to make and so delicious…. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Whole family, include picky teens loved it!
So happy to hear you all enjoyed it! 🙂
hey, thanks for sharing your dal makhani looks really amazing, I am going cook this recipe following your instructions lets see what’s happening next hahaha. but I will give you feedback about my dal makhani taste…
Great, I hope you like it!