I made the dal makhani after 7 hours of soaking and an hour of boiling the pulses. Alas, it didn't really turn out like I expected - granted, it's not a dish I grew up with or ate enough of to be really familiar with. Neither do i have much experience with these ingredients. Bought the wrong kind of urad dal (no skin) and followed recipes with too high a ratio of urad dal:kidney beans to my tastes. The end result was a bit too mushy and bland for my liking although it was no fault of the cashew cream, which I can report to @dumblederp worked well despite all the other problems. It reduced the slimy texture of urad dal and gave it a lovely creamy mouthfeel.
Ended up adding way more spices and eating it with copious amounts of lime pickle. Would try cashew cream again but need to change a few things if I try this dish again.
Not particularly inspiring pics:
Kidney beans I can use in other dishes, but man I have a lot of urad dal to go through.