A Deep Discussion on Daal (Makhani)

I realize I'm a big daal (lentils) addict. I suppose all Indians are. It's great with rice, naan, rotis, rich in proteins, fiber, it's just wonderful. And it's easy to make if you have a pressure cooker. Indians eat over ten (twenty?) types of daals, a mixture of them, individually, boiled, sprouted, steamed, cooked with curry leaves, with coriander leaves, with or without cream, with or without lime (and lemon), +/- ginger, with deep fried onions (or not), with tomatoes, with meat, with vegetables...you get the idea. The obsession is almost similar our obsession with mangoes, but that's a different topic. Back to daal.
  When I was in India, a 100 years ago, Ma cooked and I ate. Those were the roles assigned, and we didn't deviate. Imagine my surprise upon landing in New York, with my trusty suitcases, packets of chaat masala, cumin seeds, and Indian outfits that would remain in their pristine, starched form for years, and I realize, not only do I have to study, stay in school, do the dishes, pay my rent, balance my checkbook, have money in the bank to survive & pay bills but I also have to cook! Cook enough and cook edible. For the first year and a half I survived on butter chicken (there's only so much butter chicken you can eat every week, I realized that on month 3), half-thawed vegetables sautéed with almost raw coriander and cumin powder (I still can't buy those frozen packs, the trauma was well...traumatic), mushed rice from the rice cooker, cereal and milk (my lifesaver). Twenty pounds and a dress size (or two) later, I returned home to a crash course on cooking--especially daal. This time I was back in New York with every Indian grad student's favorite cookware, a Prestige pressure cooker. Since then, I've acquired three more cookers, and I have no idea how I lived without them or without lentils for so long. Urad, Moong, Masoor, Rajma, Choley, Toor..you name it. The world of daals opened up for me--a really heavenly experience, with the church music and halo lights around my pressure cooker...well, not quite that dramatic. But I even acquired a few cookbooks. That's how I started over a decade and a half ago. No, wait, a 100 years ago.
And this was my first daal I made, it's my sister's recipe. She's of course, the best cook in the world, and here's my attempt.
Note: If you don't understand the hindi names of these lentils, go to any Indian store, and they'll help you out. Promise.
Daal Makhani
Ingredients
1 cup उरद urad daal (चिल्का (chilka), unpeeled)
1/2 cup चना chana daal
1/2 cup kidney beans (राजमा rajma daal)
1/2 inch ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
4 tbsp yogurt
or 2 tbsp yogurt and 2 tbsp heavy cream
2 medium green chilies, chopped
coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
2 tbsp clarified butter, घी
Recipe

• Pressure cook the lentils with ginger, garlic, घी (ghee), chilies and tumeric powder
• Remove lid, and slow cook the same till the lentils blend with the spices
• Add cream/yogurt and cook some more before removing from the flame
• In a separate pan, heat ghee, ginger, tomatoes, green chilies, garam masala and salt
• Add the daal to this, and mix
• Add more cream if you want it richer (you've added tons of घी (ghee) and cream already, so stop!)
• Garnish with coriander leaves
• Serve with rice or रोटी rotis

This really should work. If it doesn't, let me know. But if a novice cookbook reader can make it, you can too. And it should look somewhat like this:

 Enjoy!