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Dishoom House Black Daal is a creamy black daal, the Dishoom version of daal makhani and their signature restaurant dish! It’s rich, filled with flavorful spices (but not spicy!), and oh so creamy. I loved this dish and was honestly surprised by it. (I guessed I’d love the Dishoom Chicken Ruby, but was more skeptical of this dish.)

The Dishoom House Black Daal was recommended to us by multiple people before we went to London. (This fall my friends from College Study Abroad decided to take a 20th anniversary trip to London – and I made sure to get reservations at Dishoom. I had to book 4 months out! So book early if you are visiting). We decided to get a couple orders of the House Black Daal for our table because we’d had it so highly recommended – and we did not regret it. We ate it all!

I was worried the meal would be too hyped up, because we’d heard so much about this restaurant, and even when we went to check in for our reservations, the line was around the block for walk in seating. But! The meal was everything I hoped it would be. Even better than my expectations. Every dish was deeply seasoned and perfectly cooked, but also fresh and filled with bright flavor. We loved everything we ate at Dishoom (and the Mango Lassis were perfect), but the Chicken Ruby and House Black Daal were the highlights. We could not get enough. We almost licked the dishes. Once I got home, I immediately set to testing these recipes to get them up on my site for you!

I first heard about Dishoom from my friend who visited London and tried the famed restaurant (there are several locations but they are always booked solid!). She brought back the cookbook for me and I had drooled over the pages but never felt adventurous enough to make the recipes (until I tried it for myself!). The recipes are not hard to make, they just involve many steps, mainly due to all the freshly toasted and ground spices that Dishoom uses, and also due to the longer cooking times on their recipes to really develop the flavors.

Tips

Tips for Cooking Dishoom Black Daal

In the Dishoom Cookbook, they advise:

“Cooking daal isn’t necessarily about exact timings but it is about knowing what to look for at each stage… It takes quite a long time for the ‘sauce’ to thicken and become creamy – you must watch the pan closely to ensure it doesn’t stick and you must stir the pot frequently.”

Dishoom House Black Daal

Dishoom House Black Daal is a creamy black daal, the Dishoom version of daal makhani and their signature restaurant dish! It's rich, filled with flavorful spices (but not spicy!), and oh so creamy. I loved this dish and was honestly surprised by it. (I guessed I'd love the Dishoom Chicken Ruby, but was more skeptical of this dish.)

Prepare time to make this dish – it will take almost 5 hours! You need to be close to the stove to be stirring it frequently, so it doesn't stick to the edges of the pot or burn. You can make it the day before you need to serve it, or make it in the morning and keep it warm until mealtime in the slow cooker warm setting (this is what I did and it worked great).

To make this like the restaurant does with more depth of flavor, you'll need to make your own garam masala. If you want to make it faster, you can use store-bought garam masala.

Dishoom Restaurant

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 4 30

Total Time 4 50

Serving Size 8

Ingredients

Homemade Garam Masala (If you're simplifying the recipe, don't make this and use store-bought Garam Masala)

1 black cardamom pod
4 whole cloves
5 g black peppercorns (1 teaspoon)
2 large cinnamon sticks
10 g coriander seeds (2 teaspoons)
5 g cumin seeds (1 teaspoon)
4 g fennel seeds (just under 1 teaspoon)
2 g star anise (1/2 teaspoon)
1 bay leaf
2 g mace blades (1/2 teaspoon)
10 g poppy seeds (2 teaspoons)
2 g dried rose petals

Dishoom House Black Daal

300 g whole (black) urad daal (about 1.5 cups)
4 liters cold water
12 g garlic paste (2.5 teaspoons)
10 g ginger paste (2 teaspoons)
70 g tomato puree (not paste and not sauce – look for canned tomato puree – I got the Kroger brand)
8 g salt (1.5 teaspoons)
2/3 teaspoon deggi mirch chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala (slightly upped from original recipe)
90 g unsalted butter (7 tablespoons)
90 g heavy cream (1/2 cup)

Instructions

Homemade Garam Masala

If you are making this exact to the restaurant version, and making your own garam masala, you'll want to do this first.
ut everything except the poppy seeds and rose petals into a cold, dry frying pan and place over a medium heat to warm, shaking the pan occasionally.
Toast for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat.
Add the poppy seeds and rose petals, and let the mixture cool in the pan.
Transfer the cooled spice mix to a or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.

House Black Daal

Put the dal into a large bowl, cover with water and whisk for 10 seconds. Let the dal settle, then pour out the water. Repeat three or four times, until the water is clear.
Tip the dal into a large saucepan and pour in at least four litres of cold water. Bring to a boil and cook steadily for two to three hours. Skim off any impurities that rise to the surface, and add more boiling water as required to keep the grains well covered. The dal grains need to become completely soft, with the skins coming away from the white grain. When pressed, the white part should be creamy, rather than crumbly. When cooked, turn off the heat and set aside for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, mix the garlic and ginger pastes, tomato puree, salt, chilli powder and garam masala into a paste.
Carefully pour off the dal cooking water, then pour on enough freshly boiled water to cover the dal by 3-4cm. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat, then add the aromatic paste and butter. Cook rapidly for 30 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the mixture from sticking.
Lower the heat and simmer for one to one and a half hours more, stirring regularly to prevent it from sticking, and adding a little boiling water if the liquid level gets near the level of the grains. Eventually, the dal will turn thick and creamy. The creaminess must come from the grains disintegrating into the liquid and enriching it, not from the water being allowed to evaporate, leaving only the grains behind.
Add the cream and cook for a further 15 minutes. Serve with naan or other Indian breads. When reheating any leftover daal, you may need to add a little more liquid; use cream or cream and water, rather than just water alone.
(If transferring to a slow cooker, add to slow cooker and keep on warm setting until ready to serve. Before serving you may need to add just a little more cream to loosen it up.)
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

I really hope you get a chance to try this Dishoom House Black Daal Recipe! Our whole family loved it and we hope you do too! Be sure to tag me @plumstreetcollective on Instagram if you make this.