Dal Makhani By Mom

 I often heard her up and about at 5am every morning, getting together a hot breakfast for the extended family, lunches for those who were at home, packing food for us to take as school lunches, all before 8:30am, at which point she would rush off to factory, where she worked as a worker. She would be back at 5, after which it was constantly go-go-go, with homework, dinner, dishes, laying out clothes for the next day, wrestling recalcitrant kids into bed. She would fall into bed, exhausted, only to wake up the next morning and start the cycle all over again. All this, interspersed with looking after elderly relatives and family.

 Mom's cooking and her recipes were all down from her parents, a continuation of oral traditions and culture.Every day she describes about food items she loves and prepares herself ,the taste is wonderful.Dal Makahni, also popular as Mah di Dal, is quite easy to prepare and has plenty of nutritional values. Dal Makhani is very good for growing children because of its high nutritional value.Dal makhani is rich in protein and calcium . The tomato in Dal Makhani not only adds a little sharpness to the preparation, but also imports a generous amount of folic acid and Vitamin A. There are ample starch and minerals in Dal Makhani. The dal is typically a little heavy to digest, but the ginger solves the problem.The recipe of Dal Makhani is given below is her own recipe.

Recipe Details
Soak whole black urad and rajma overnight in 3-4 cups of water.
Cook the soaked dal and rajma in the same water with salt, red chili powder and half the chopped ginger till dal and rajma are cooked and soft.
Peel and chop the onion, ginger and garlic finely. Also chop the tomatoes.
Heat oil and butter in a thick-bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds, when it crackles add chopped onions and fry till golden brown.
Add chopped ginger, garlic and chopped tomatoes. Sauté till tomatoes are well mashed and fat starts to leave the masala. Add boiled dal and rajma to this.Do not add the liquid at first.Crush(mash) the dals with the back of the ladle while stirring continuously, this gives that creamy texture to the dal .
Add the liquid and some water if required and simmer on very low heat for fifteen minutes.
Add fresh cream and garam masala powder let it simmer for another five minutes. Finish off with a couple of pinch of Kasoori methi powdered.
Serve hot with Naan or Paraatha.