Shahi Dal, as the name advocates, is an aromatic, and rich Mughlai style urad dal recipe with a delicious creaminess.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
If you are fond of rich Mughlai dishes, then bookmark this urad dal recipe!
Shahi Urad Dal is a rich, creamy Indian dal made with split black lentils characterized by the use of dry fruits, caramelized onion, and ghee. It is a kind of dal recipe that is befitting for the royal dinner parties or the special occasion in the family.
How to Make Shahi Dal
Soaking Dal
- Rinse lentil 2 – 3 times or till water runs clear.
- Soak split urad overnight or atleast 5 hours in clean water.
- Scrub soaked lentil between fingers to remove the dark outer husk from the dal. The same dal can be used to make pahadi bada, chainsa, or khichdi.
Pressure Cook
- Add clean dal to pressure cooker along with tomato, ginger, garlic, green chilli, whole spices, turmeric, red chilli powder, asafoetida, salt and water. Mix well to combine.
- Pressure cook for 3 whistles over low heat or till urad dal gets cooked.
- Allow the steam of pressure cooker to escape naturally before opening the lid.
- Use the back of a spoon to mash the dal for that thick, saucy consistency.
Preparing Tempering (Tadka):
- Heat ghee in a deep pan and add the sliced almonds. Fry them till light golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onions, and sauté on a medium flame till onion turns light brown. Towards the end add cumin seeds and garam masala powder.
Garnish and Serve:
- Heat urad dal right before serving. Once hot, transfer it to a serving bowl.
- Pour the sizzling hot tadka of camaelized onion over the dal along with fried almonds and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve Shahi Urad Dal with naan, lachha paratha, or jeera rice for an indulgent Indian style dinner with side dishes like kachumber salad or mint raita.
Urad Dal Recipe FAQs
This Shahi Urad Dal Recipe can be easily transformed into a vegan deliciousness. All you need to substitute two ingredients in the recipe: Ghee: Use either coconut oil, vegan butter or vegetable cooking oil. Milk: Use almond milk or cashew milk
Whole urad dal or the sabut urad is also known as black urad dal. The husk is attached to the grain and this is the dal used for making famous Dal Makhani. The split urad or the chilka urad is black and white. It has a removable husk attached to the grain. After soaking the lentil this husk is easily removable. The white urad or the dhuli urad is pale white and has no husk attached to the grain.
Whole urad dal or the split urad dal needs to be soaked for at least 4 – 5 hours in water. Urad dal takes a longer time to get cooked even in a pressure cooker. Hence, soaking helps in reducing the cooking time. In the case of split urad dal, soaking softens the husk, and it can be easily removed by gently rubbing the grains in between fingers.
More Indian Dal Recipes
- Dal Makhani
- Panchmel Dal
- Arhar Dal Fry
- Palak Chana Dal
- Everyday Masoor Dal
- Punjabi Sookhi Urad Dal
- Moradabadi Moong Dal
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Shahi Urad Dal Recipe
- Tadka Pan
Ingredients
Ingredients For Cooking Dal:
- 1 Cup chilka urad dal (split black lentils)
- 1 medium size tomato, finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 green chilli, fine chopped
- 2 cloves (laung)
- 2 green cardamom (hari elaichi)
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoom turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
- 3 Cup water
Ingredients For Tempering (tadka):
- 2 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1 large size onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds (badam)
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala ( see recipe here)
Instructions
How To Cook Urad Dal:
- To make Shahi Dal, first clean, wash and soak the urad dal in enough water for 5 hours or overnight.
- Next morning you will notice the black husk of dal starts leaving the white skin underneath. Rub the dal in small batches in between your palms to remove the black peel. Rinse again and you will end up with majorly white skinned dal with few black peel here and there.
- Combine the dal, cardamom pods, cloves, chopped tomato, ginger, garlic, green chilli, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, and water in a pressure cooker. Mix well to combine.
- Pressure cook for 4 whistles over low heat or till urad dal gets cooked. Allow the steam of pressure cooker to escape naturally before opening the lid. Gently whisk the dal with the spoon to thicken it. It should have a thick, creamy consistency.
Tempering (Tadka)
- Heat ghee in a deep pan and add the sliced almonds. Fry them till light golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onions, and fry on a medium flame till onion turns light brown. Towards the end add cumin seeds and garam masala. Cook for few seconds. Turn off the heat.
- Heat dal before serving. Taste and if required add more salt or spices. Pour the sizzling tadka over dal.
- Garnish Shahi Urad Dal with fresh coriander leaves.
- Serve Shahi Urad Dal warm with jeera rice or chapati.
Recipe Notes:
- You can make this dal in an electric pressure cooker, multi-pot, or instant pot. In electric pressure cooker, it takes 15 minutes to cook fully.
- If after pressure cooking, the dal seems too thick, add more water/full fat milk/cooking cream to get the desired consistency and creaminess.
- Urad dal or the split urad dal needs to be soaked for at least 4 – 5 hours in water. This reduces the cooking time.
Chowringhee says
simple receipt, easy to get all the ingredient , look yummy
i will try to make it someday,
thanks for shared
Hina Gujral says
Try it and share with us how it turned out 🙂 Happy Cooking!
Shruthi says
Looks so delicious and healthy too! trying it out soon!
Supreeth says
Adding this to my weight loss recipes!
Sarah says
Thank you for this gorgeous recipe – looks beautiful and tasty and indulgent but healthy too! I will try it this week! Just wondering what the topping is in your pictures – I see the toasted sliced almonds and fresh coriander lieaves but there also seems to be a reddish sort of crunchy/sticky topping. I can’t find it in the recipe – I may have missed it but I’d be curious to know!
Hina Gujral says
I think you are referring to the caramelized onion on top. Otherwise, there is nothing else. I am so glad you like the recipe.