Urad dal makhani

Rinse the urad beans in a sieve until the water runs clear. Put them in a bowl and cover generously with warm water. Stir in the baking soda and soak for at least 12 hours. Drain without rinsing. Discard the soaking water.

Peel the ginger and divide it equally between thin slices, grated ginger and fine matchsticks. Peel and crush the garlic. Divide the chillies equally, keeping some whole for the broth and chopping the rest for the finish. Put the drained beans in a casserole with the measured cooking water, sliced ginger, whole chilli and turmeric. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer for about 1 hour until very tender. Remove the sliced ginger and whole chilli.

Heat the butter in a pan until foaming and nut-brown, without burning. Reserve half in a bowl. Add the cumin, fenugreek, ground coriander, garlic, grated ginger and tomato purée to the butter in the pan. Stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Stir into the urad beans with the kidney beans and all their canning liquid.

Roughly crush some of the beans with a potato masher. Cook over very low heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick and creamy. Stir in half the cream, the garam masala and most of the reserved butter. Top with the remaining cream and butter, chopped chilli and ginger matchsticks.