Dishoom Black Dal Recipe – Adapted for a Quick and Easy Weeknight Meal

On the eve of a trip to London, I asked the chefs, food writers, cookbook authors and food-loving friends in my social circle where they were going to eat. I got a long list of places to mark on Google Maps, but there was one place that almost all of my trusted sources enthusiastically recommended: Dishoom.

Opened in 2009, the restaurant is an homage to Bombay’s all-day cafes owned by Iranian immigrants. The Dishoom team has created a constellation of sleek, modern restaurants with décor that makes you feel like you’ve landed in the 1960s version of Bombay, now known as Mumbai. They serve Indian food so delicious that Londoners queue for hours.

From pakoras and bhajis to addictive Ruby Chicken, our meal at Dishoom turned out to be one of the best of our trip. Among all the spices and colors on our over-burdened table, the creamy, buttery black dal was what stood out to me the most. Nothing like the South Indian red lentil dal I was used to, the thick, rich stew was the dish I was most craving when I returned home.

Fortunately, Dishoom published a cookbook called Dishoom: From Bombay with love, So I bought it to revive the food, especially that simple black dal. Turns out it’s not that simple. The footnote warns you that the restaurant cooks theirs for 24 hours so the tiny, tough black lentils break down into a creamy deliciousness. The recipe for home cooks calls for 4 to 5 hours. I’ve made it many times and it’s amazing, but sometimes I want a bowl of lentil soup without being tied to the stove for so long.

And then, a revelation! On a recent trip to my favorite Indian grocery store (Apna Bazaar in Beaverton, Oregon is my happy place), I saw bags of hulled split black dal right next to time-consuming whole black lentils. Would those machine-split beans yield the same creaminess? I had to find out.

Since split dal cooks in a fraction of the time required for whole lentils, I was able to skip the 2- to 3-hour simmering step of the original recipe. Next, you’re supposed to add the garlic, ginger, tomato puree, and spices; since dal simmers for hours, the raw flavor of the garlic and ginger dissipates over time. Since split lentils took only 45 minutes to cook, I was left with a harsh, raw garlicky taste. So in my next test, I sautéed the garlic, ginger, and other aromatics first, then added the lentils and water — more like a traditional soup recipe. That adjustment mellowed the flavors nicely.

Speaking of aromatics, as much as I adore this cookbook, the ingredient lists in the dal recipe give me a headache. Everything is in grams, even small amounts like ginger and garlic. Do you know how much 10 grams of garlic paste equals in teaspoons? Me neither. That’s why in the recipe below, I’ve changed the grams to teaspoon measurements. And instead of using the book’s sub-recipes to make batches of ginger-garlic paste, I just finely chop what I need for this recipe and crush it with the side of my knife, so there’s no need to get out the mini food processor.

The original recipe calls for tomato puree, which is thicker in the UK than the watery tomato puree we have in the States. For my adaptation, I decided to use a few tablespoons of tomato paste, as I keep it in a tube in the fridge at all times. I kept the deggi mirch chili powder from the original recipe, a finely ground blend made from Kashmiri chilis that adds color and a mild spicy kick. It’s available at the same store where I buy split black dal, but if you don’t have access to it, I recommend a blend of sweet paprika with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper—don’t use cayenne alone, as it’s too spicy for this subtle dish.

I’m guessing the cookbook recipe must have been scaled down from the giant batches of dal made in the restaurant kitchen because it calls for only ⅓ teaspoon of garam masala, an amount that’s undetectable in a large pot of soup. So I’ve upped the amount of garam masala to 1 teaspoon. The book gives you a secondary recipe for making your own garam masala spice blend that involves roasting 12 ingredients, including rose petals and whole mace leaves, and pulverizing them in an electric grinder. If you use your coffee grinder for this task, you’ll have coffee-flavored garam masala and vice versa. (Please don’t ask me how I know.) Or you can buy garam masala from a reputable source, such as or the And that will work just fine. Only buy what you will use in a few months, as it loses its shine over time.

Since the Hindi name for dal, dal makhani, means “buttery dal,” it should come as no surprise that this recipe calls for butter—a whopping 90 grams, or about 6 tablespoons. You can adjust the amount based on your cholesterol levels; I found 3 tablespoons to be a good amount. The recipe also includes 6 tablespoons of double cream, a British ingredient that is 48 percent fat. In the U.S., heavy cream is only 36 to 38 percent fat, so while my dal isn’t as rich, ¼ cup is plenty.

After cooking dozens of batches of Dishoom’s delicious black dal, I’ve landed on a reasonable version that can be made in 45 minutes instead of 6 hours. The time savings allow me to make basmati rice, hunt down jarred Indian pickles that I know are somewhere in my fridge, and maybe even heat up a frozen chapati or naan. It’s not exactly the seductive dal I fell in love with that rainy afternoon in King’s Cross, but it will do until I can get back to London.

Black dal recipe

Adapted from

Serves 6 people

Ingredients:

1¼ cups split and shelled black dal (also called black urad dal or matpe beans)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1¼ teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic (about 4 medium cloves)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon chili powder deggi mirch or sweet paprika with a pinch of cayenne
1¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

Step 1: Place the dal in a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Set aside.

Step 2: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant but not browned, 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, garam masala and chili powder and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to brown slightly on the bottom of the pot, 1 minute.

Step 3: Add the lentils, 6 cups water, and salt and stir to combine. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until beans are creamy and break down, about 45 minutes. Stir frequently and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure the lentils don’t stick. The soup is done when the lentils have broken down considerably and the mixture is thick and porridge-like in texture.

Step 4: Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the cream and cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning, adding salt and chili powder to taste. Serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers until completely cool. Cover and use within 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover dal will thicken as it sits, so add water to adjust consistency when reheating.

Ivy Manning is an award-winning food writer based in Portland, Oregon and the author of 10 cookbooks, including Tacos from A to Z: A delicious guide to non-traditional tacosShe is a frequent recipe tester and editor for Eater, as well as for restaurant and appliance brands.
Dina Avila is a photographer in Portland, Oregon