₹260
The dish that shares an origin story with butter chicken — both credited to the same Delhi kitchen that turned leftovers into legend.
Dal makhani is often traced to the same Moti Mahal lineage in Delhi as butter chicken — restaurant lore that credits Kundan Lal Gujral's kitchen with both, born from a habit of simmering lentils overnight on dying tandoor embers so nothing went to waste. What started as an efficient use of low heat became the entire point of the dish: nothing about a good dal makhani can be rushed.
What makes it taste like that
Hours of slow simmering are what break the black lentils down until the dish turns creamy on its own, before any butter or cream is added — the dairy at the end rounds it out rather than doing all the work.
Chef's note
The dal isn't done when it looks ready — it's done when it tastes noticeably better than it did an hour earlier. That's the only real test.