Maa ki Dal

Whole black urad dal slow-cooked overnight — whole sabut urad (black gram with skin intact) soaked for hours, then set to cook on a wood fire or low flame overnight until the lentils have broken down into a thick, dark, intensely earthy dal. No butter, no cream — the Dogri and Himachali version is finished only with a tempering of ghee, garlic, and dried red chilli. The flavour is deep, slightly nutty, and pleasantly bitter from the intact lentil skins. Distinct from Delhi's dal makhani in its complete absence of cream and its longer, slower cook.