Indian · Authentic-ish Indian
Dal Makhani
288 kcal a serving, against 497 for the traditional version. That is 209 kcal off, or 42%, with 20g of protein. Serves 6. 135 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Black urad dal and dried kidney beans, soaked overnight and simmered for up to 24 hours until completely broken down. The dark, muddy stew is then heavily enriched with massive blocks of butter and finished with a heavy pour of double cream.
What changed, and what each change costs
150g of double cream for 150g of light evaporated milk
Double cream is entirely responsible for the thick, velvety texture of the restaurant version, but it costs you hundreds of calories in pure fat. Light evaporated milk brings a surprising amount of creamy texture and a slightly sweet dairy flavour for a fraction of the cost.
What it costs you. You lose that mouth-coating luxury. Evaporated milk does a decent job, but it lacks the sheer density of real double cream. The dal feels thinner on the tongue.
150g of butter down to 30g
Butter is in the name of the dish, so I couldn't cut it completely. Dropping it by 120g removes a massive wall of fat, while leaving just enough to fry the spices and give a faint buttery hum to the final bowl.
What it costs you. This is where the dish suffers. What you've got is a solid, everyday black lentil stew. A rich, heavy restaurant masterpiece anymore is a different dish and you know where to find it. The buttery punch that normally defines dal makhani is mostly gone.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 497 | 288 |
| Protein | 19g | 20g |
| Fat | 30.6g | 5.4g |
| Saturated fat | 18.6g | 2.7g |
| Carbohydrate | 39.4g | 41.5g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 3.8g | 6.9g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Indian prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. milk.
The method is in the book
I'll be completely honest with you. I slashed the fat, and the dish survived, but it lost its soul. The earthy lentil flavour is great, and the evaporated milk brings a decent creaminess. It's a fantastic, highly edible bowl of food. But calling it makhani is a stretch when you remove 80% of the butter. You've got a brilliant everyday black dal here, but you've lost the weekend magic. Sometimes the original simply can't be matched.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Indian, along with 54 more. Buy the paperback