Dal Makhani

I found this recipe for slow cooker dal makhani on novicehousewife.com.  I just made it for the first time today and wanted to jot down the changes I made (some by accident, some because I didn't have the called for ingredient) because I want to be able to recreate it again.  It is fantastic.  It takes hours and hours in the slow cooker, but it takes very little active work.  The original recipe is at the link.  The version below is what I did today.  The Indian groceries near our house aren't that well stocked or particularly cheap, so I got my dals from Amazon.  My comments are in italics.

I'm not sure how much it would affect the flavor, but if you skipped the ghee (and the milk, or substituted coconut milk), it would be both oil free and vegan.  I'm going to try it at some point since I forgot to include half the ghee in the original recipe the first time I made this and it tasted as good as any dal makhani I've ever had from a restaurant. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup urad saboot (whole unskinned black lentils, also called black matpe beans)
• ½ cup dry red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp channa dal
• 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter -- optional, and I no longer include it)
• 1½ tsp salt, or to taste (I use closer to 1/2 tsp)
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup ready made tomato puree (I used my grocery store's canned organic tomato sauce)
• ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
• 2 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves -- I only noticed as I started cooking that it calls for leaves and I only have dried methi seeds.  I substituted 1/2 tbs methi seeds and the finished product was great.)
• pinch garam masala
• ½ tsp amchur powder (raw mango powder -- can be found in Indian grocery stores)
• ½ tsp black salt (can be found in Indian grocery stores -- I ordered Hawaiian black lava salt from Amazon as that was all I could find.  If it's not the same thing, it doesn't seem to make a difference.)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp onion powder

Grind to paste (I just ran them through a food processor because I am lazy.)

• 2 dry, whole red chillies, preferably Kashmiri red chillies- deseeded and soaked for 10 minutes and then drained (I used dry "japones" from India that I found at my regular grocery store.  I also think it would be reasonable to use chili-ginger-garlic paste as a shortcut for all three ingredients)
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

To Add later

• ½ cup milk mixed with ½ cup cream (I would consider this optional.  I ate an entire bowl of the dal makhani before I got to this step and it was fantastic.  You could also substitute lite coconut milk for a tasty vegan option.)
• 2-3 tbs fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

1. Boil the red kidney beans for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse.  
2. While the red kidney beans are boiling, rinse the channa dal and urad saboot.  Add them to the slow cooker.  When the red kidney beans have been boiled and rinsed, add them to the slow cooker too.  Add the ghee, salt, water, and chilli-ginger-garlic paste.  Give a stir, set slow cooker to "low," and cook overnight. 
3. The next morning, mash the lentils a bit and add the tomato puree, kasoori methi, cayenne pepper, roasted cumin powder, nutmeg powder, amchur powder, coriander powder, black salt, and onion powder and let cook on low for another 4-6 hours.  If it starts to dry out or overcook, change slow cooker to "warm" setting until you're ready to eat.
4. Just before serving, add the garam masala powder and if you like the cream and milk, or just milk.
5. Add the chopped cilantro and serve with rice, naan or roti.