When Kundan Lal, the inventor of the famous Dal Makhani, introduced Delhi to this sensational dish, most people in the Capital were not even in the habit of storing black urad dal in their kitchens. It was a West Punjab phenomenon that entered Independent India after the Partition, and we couldn’t be more thankful. Pulses and legumes have been a very intrinsic part of the subcontinent’s palate since time immemorial. Yet, very rarely are they considered ‘delicacies’. At best, it is your favourite comfort food that you come back home to. And then, there are some legendary dals like the Dal Makhani, Dal Bukhara, and Lalla Musa Dal that you don’t mind travelling miles and miles for.
The Lalla Musa Dal is a Pakistani Dal that is made with a combination of dhuli urad dal, masoor dal, and chana dal. This dal is thick and dripping with ghee. Lalla Musa Dal is native to Pakistan, more specifically, a district, called Lala Musa. Miya Ji Hotel of Lala Musa has been making this dal since 1975, and it continues to be the hot-selling item of the restaurant, giving the kebabs and kormas a run for their money. People start queuing up for the dal in the morning, and one can always smell it in the making, since it is cooked in a kadhai for hours that too in desi ghee.
While the owners of the hotel have never revealed the recipe, a lot of people have tried replicating it in their homes. Even chef Ranveer Brar shared his version of the dal on his YouTube Channel recently. To make this dal soaked dhuli urad, dhuli masoor, chana are boiled with 2x the amount of water. Remember this dal is supposed to be thick and not water, hence the low volume of water.
Before boiling the dal in a pressure cooker, only a handful of turmeric, salt, and red chilli powder is added to the dal and water. The USP of this dal is that it is not high in spices that can overwhelm the actual flavour of dal. Even the pulses are chosen very carefully, masoor dal lends a good flavour to the watery portion of the dal, but doesn’t blend in the water. Urad blends almost instantly and chana dal makes the dal chunky.
The tadka of the dal is also roasted in ghee, and mostly comprises chopped onions that are first browned and then mixed with garlic. After the pulses are boiled, it is cooked in a kadhai for hours, before the tempering is added. Ghee comes up and then mixed again. The dal is paired with naan or khameeri roti but, of course, who knows it better than us that a dal as fine would be good with just about any bread.