Vegan Dal Makhani for 150 - Plus 9 Secrets to Make it Extra Delicious

Last week, for Soupfest 2019, a local soup competition in Fredericton, Master Indian Spice made Dal Makhani for 450 people to have a 3 ounce serving (50 L total). That’s enough for 150 people to have a 10 oz serving. We pulled out every stop to make this the most delicious Dal Makhani we can possibly make, and we used some of the most mouthwatering culinary secrets we know of. This is the ultimate restaurant Dal Makhani.
To see what secrets we've used to make this dish extra special and easier to prepare, check out our Youtube video below:

Vegan Dal Makhani Main Ingredients:

15 lb Urad Dal
10 lb red Kidney beans
8 packages Grace coconut cream
25 lb tomatoes
10 lb onion
~2 lb peeled garlic
~2 lb peeled ginger
3 tubs (about 4 L) Vegan butter
Water as needed

Whole Spices:

40-50 tej patta or Indian bay leaves
1/4 cup Cloves
~1 cup Cassia Bark or Cinnamon
~1/4 cup black cardamom
~1/2 cup green cardamom

Other Seasonings:

1 1/2 cup amchoor (mango powder)
1 tbsp hing (asafoetida)
3-4 cups oat flour (for roux)
1 cup Turmeric
1-1.5 cup ground Garam Masala

Vegan Dal Makhani Method:

1. Rinse urad dal and kidney beans and soak overnight or for at least 4 hours in a 1:4 bean to water ratio. Add some baking soda to the water to reduce cooking time.
2. In a steam kettle or 60L pot, get the dal boiling, and reduce to medium heat, keep an eye on them as you proceed through the following steps. If they’re in a pot, they will need a vigilant eye.
3. repeat this step with the kidney beans with about the same ratio of water.
4. Core and halve tomatoes, set on pans, add salt, pepper, and garlic and roast at 350 until slightly browned.
5. While Dal is boiling and tomatoes are roasting, open up your coconut cream packages and add to 3-4 L of water. Heat on medium until dissolved, whisk until combined. Watch you don’t scald it.
6. While coconut cream is heating, melt about a cup of butter in a large pan or rondeau to prepare your tadka. Fry tadka until slightly brown and sizzling. In a colander or hyp bag, add to urad dal. It’s okay if a small amount of whole spice gets into the dal
7. Add another cup of butter to the large pan, and turn off heat. Peel and slice all onions.
8. Check your tomatoes, coconut cream, dal. Add water to Dal if needed. Fry onions over low-medium heat along with garlic and ginger until soft and transparent.
9. In a cup or two of vegan butter fry your oat flour until dark brown
10. Blend tomatoes and onion mixture using an immersion blender or a food processor, add this to the dal along with the roux.
11. Melt another cup of butter in the large pan, to this add hing (asafoetida) and amchoor (mango powder), and let sizzle for 20-30 seconds before adding to the dal.
12. Add coconut cream and almond milk to the dal; reserve some coconut cream for the garnish
13. Fire some softwood chunks on the gas cooktop; in a metal mixing bowl, pour some melted butter over these and float on dal, covering for 15 minutes
14. Serve with coconut cream and cilantro.