Best Places in Chennai to Have Dal Makhani

If you are you a fan of rich and sinful Dal Makhani (mixed lentil curry), here are the best places in Chennai to have it.

1. Peshawari, ITC Grand Chola

The dish is called 'Dal Bukhara' at Peshawari, which is the flagship restaurant of the ITC Group. While this might be an expensive affair, the creamy and rich flavor sets it apart. 

Pricing - Very Expensive - INR 795 per portion

Other Dishes to Try:

They have a brief menu and almost every dish is spot on. While their kebabs are succulent and a treat to your palate, the main course is equally good. 

2. The Great Kebab Factory, Radisson

The restaurant operates on a sit down buffet model and the dal makhani is a part of this course.

Pricing - Very Expensive 

Other Dishes to Try:

Big fan of their lamb galouti kebab; it is easily among the best places to have it. Not the place to overdo the starters as their main course and desserts are equally good. 

3. Zaica

This is the restaurant that introduced me to the world of Dal Makhani. The dish is called 'Dal Peshawari' and is a signature dish of the restaurant. I have always had it as a part of their sit down buffet, but they also have an a la carte menu. 

Pricing - Moderate - INR 230 per portion

Other dishes to Try:

Their sit down buffet is a great value for money and I love the veg kebabs that are served as part of it. Their desserts include hot jalebis and jamuns which are reasonably good. 

4. Pakwan

The dish is called 'Dal Pakwan' at this newly opened vegetarian restaurant. 

Pricing - Moderate - INR 230 per portion

Other Dishes to Try:

They have an extensive menu which includes a lot of fusion food. My personal favourites are: palak kurkure chat, paneer dum anari (starter), kekhsan (main course) and shahi tukda (dessert). 

5. Salt

A restaurant that I frequent for a few of their other delectable dishes but end up ordering the dal makhani almost every time. Their dal makhani goes by the name 'House Black Dal'

Pricing - Moderate - INR 265 per portion

Other Dishes to Try: 

When describing the food at salt, I would always start with the dessert first. My staple order here is their Elaneer Payasam which is the best you would find in budget restaurants across the city (I am told Southern Spice at Taj is another good place to have it, but yet to try given the luxury factor). Egg biriyani is another staple order; while I don't order egg biriyani usually at restaurants, Salt is one place I would recommend trying if you ever want to (even-though recently it hasn't been inconsistent). 

This is my top five, lets hear your views and recommendations in the comments section.

P.s - Few of the images were taken from google and others are from my visits to these restaurants. 

Beyond Indus - Beyond Awesome

Was here as a part of preview of the Ola Prime restaurant week. I had chosen to dine here for the silliest reasons:

1. I turned vegetarian for two months and I believed if there was any cuisine that would appeal to me, this was most likely to be it. 

2. Forgot to add, not just vegetarian- but no desserts too. I assumed it would be easier to skip desserts when dining at a North Indian cuisine restaurant. A judgement I was grossly incorrect about and regretted when I saw my friend eat desserts like there was no tomorrow. 

About the food:
We were served with paapad and an in-house pre-meal appetiser. This appetiser or chips made from Indian breads was crispy and combined fabulously well with the hung curd-garlic-olive dip. 
Starters:

1. Brocolli Simla mirch or cheesy brocolli
This was well cooked brocolli with a healthy cheese infusion; never tasted anything better made of Brocolli. Loved it! 

2. Lal mirch paneer tikka
Moderately soft paneer chunks with a good spicy flavour. 

3. Hara bara kebab
Not my favourite among the three, but nailed it for sure. 

Main course:
1. Aloo tee wadi da bharta - on a normal day, I would have definitely never ordered a dish with potatoes in it, that too at a luxury diner. But this, is by far (when I say far, I really mean far) the most interesting and tasty use of potatoes I have come across in North Indian/ Punjabi cuisine. 

The curry is made with mashed potatoes and I literally had to snatch my share from the otherwise carnivore friend. 

2. Paneer lababdar
A perfect contrast for the aloo curry, even-though both aren't the spicy options. They nailed the lababdar and it had the right balance; it's one dish I love but find overbearing in a few restaurants - this was fortunately not the case here. 

3. Kadai vegetables
This was the extremes to which a temporary convert carnivore would go. That said, it was an extreme I was impressed with. 

Breads: tried pudina parata, chilli olive naan and garlic naan. As always, would rate the garlic naan best. 

Vegetable pulao - Typically, the vegetables are tossed in tawa and mixed to make pulao; this was possibly the reason for the vegetables being marginally saltier than the rice. A decent offering minus this inconsistency.

Desserts 
Did not eat them, but a part of me ached as I saw my friend having a mini-meal with my share of desserts included. 

Ambience
A relatively small restaurant if one was to judge by the carpet area. The interiors are however done gracefully and definitely sets the theme for the cuisine. 

Pricing 

The restaurant week is possibly the best time to try for cost conscious customers. But even otherwise, this is a place worth visiting on special occasions. 

On a summary note, this restaurant is the gleaming highlight in the last couple of weeks I have spent as a vegetarian and is one restaurant I would recommend all my north Indian cuisine loving vegetarian friends to try.

Kabul Express, Thipassandara (4/5)

This place is a delight for meat lovers. Make sure you call them a day in advance and place an order for their speciality dishes. 

I was meeting a couple of foodies here (all meat food lovers). One of them was reasonably acquainted to the offerings here and further with the help of the owner- we were able to narrow down our orders. 

Our orders:

1. Murg Kheema Tangdi - incredible combination of chicken tangdi kebab and mutton kheema. The dish was served with mutton kheema stuffed into the tangdi kebabs.

2. Mutton afghani kheema kebab - an over-spiced but delicious mutton kebab - filled with dry fruits and rich spices. Considering they did not have galouti's yesterday - this was a fitting substitute. 

3. Chicken mosallam khorma & afghani parata

A spicy thick gravy chicken dish. 

It combined brilliantly with the afghani parata- which could be classified as sweet bread. 

4. Jal jeera Cola - the restaurant made a special twist of coke by making their own version of jal jeera cola- this was customised for us and would prefer not to judge this as an offering. 

Ambience & seating

The restaurant does not have much of a seating space and there is not much to show off in the ambience front as well. 

Pricing

It cost us roughly 250 per head and I would definitely grade that as VFM.

Service

The management took personal care to explain the dishes and the specialties of their offering. The food takes a while to be served - mainly because of it being made fresh. 

This place is a 4.5/5 for a non vegetarian foodie; however infrastructure is a big letdown if you are looking to dine in - and parcel might not be the best way to relish the dishes.