Dal Samarkand: Best Dal Makhani?

Everyone makes resolutions for the new year. After hearing so much about Dal Samarkand from various food groups, my resolution was to start the new year by ordering it. And I did exactly that by ordering it before the midnight of the year ending 2022.

Ordering Process: I won’t say ordering was easy. Initially the website didn’t take the order by giving reasons that it wasn’t accepting orders for 31st night even though I was ordering it for 1st Jan. When it started accepting orders, I couldn’t choose lunch or dinner slot. After making the payment, I received a WhatsApp message that my order would be delivered for dinner.

Quantity: At Rs1050, the pack size says it is sufficient for 5 people. It pleasantly surprised me. This quantity should easily suffice 7 people in my opinion. Quantity is around 750ml, though I didn’t measure it.

Packaging: Excellent! Beautiful martbaan wrapped around with bubble wrap and in a small cotton bag. This can easily be presented as it is to guests. Pack came with the reheating instructions.

Accompaniment: Dal Samarkand comes along with few cocktail onions and a green chilly. May be they tried doing vinegar onion but I could hardly get the vinegar flavour. Perhaps it was kept for a very small time in vinegar. And with just 1 green chilly I fail to understand that if someone says quantity sufficient for 5 people, then accompaniments should also be sufficient accordingly.

Taste: The rich buttery yet subtle taste will leave a slightly sweetish aftertaste. Dal Samarkand has a thick consistency without sitting too heavy once you have eaten it. This is muddled well for a smooth texture. However, big question is if this is the best dal makhani that you have ever eaten. To me it is amongst the good ones that you will eat however it is like any other decent dal makhani you might have otherwise eaten.

Value for money: With the martbaan cost and almost double the quantity of dal makhani from another place, I feel this dal makhani isn’t overly priced. For the taste, quantity and packaging, price of Rs1050 including delivery is well justified.

Would I order it again: May be yes, may be no. Dal is good without being something that I won’t get at other places. For me it tastes as good as dal from Daryaganj (restaurant) or even similar to many other places I have tried. So I won’t wait after giving an advance order. Since this is the only dish that you can order from the company’s website, it makes lot of sense to order from another restaurant that gives an option to order multiple items for the ease of ordering.

I will be happy to read your opinion.