Dal Bati Churma Lentils with Hard Wheat Rolls

What better way to celebrate HOLI , the festival of colors, other than share Dal Bati Churma recipe, from  Rajasthan, also famous for its equally colorful Holi!!! The moment one hears of Dal Bati Churma Lentils with Hard Wheat Rolls, one associates it as probably the most well known item of the Rajasthani cuisine to others. Rajasthani HOLI is also an experience one needs to have, if possible. I have extremely colorful memories of Holi celebrations in Jodhpur, because of its warmth, colorful holi and the wonderful food! Holi is also very special for us for various reasons. For a person with roots in Rajasthan, it is also very rewarding to be presented with Dali Bati Churma to celebrate special occasions even if it is a birthday of special someone!! A menu with Dal Bati Churma will  make many hearts warm and some ears spark!!

Dal Bati Churma is a very traditional food and needs some taste cultivation, as I underwent, and as is true for many delicacies that need to have an acquired taste. The bati or wheat rolls are flour based and undergo steaming and cooking/baking process. Whereas the Dal is cooked like any other lentils. The Churma is again made from flour and mixed with jaggery/sugar. And all these are garnished with melted ghee/clarified butter,which further accentuates its taste. The way to eat this is also very unique, as one needs to break the bati doughnuts into small pieces, pour the lentils on top and mix in some churma on the top. This whole process is enjoyed even more, if one is willing to eat this delicacy using finger. Often grandparents have said that eating with your fingers makes the food more tasty and satisfying too! I wondered  many times as to why this was so true? The reason for this is “ Food well focused upon brings about better absorption, assimilation and satisfaction leading to better health and a calmer, stress-free life.” as per an article in guardianlv.com.  And I fully agree with this observation as having experienced this first hand. Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2013/06/eating-with-your-hands-is-healthier/#zysblkHvxIG6DJR0.99 

Though this dish looks complicated it is not so tough, but does requires some hand work out!  A modified version(based on Tarla Dalal’s recipe ) is presented here. This recipe uses carom seeds, jaggery, and is suited to even be an item for Jain Paryushan or Atham Chaudas Menu!

I love the doughnut look of the batis and find them quite fascinating and the churma, the sweet mixture made of flour reminds me of the churma laddoo.   Both these with the tangy spicy five lentil dal makes Dal Bati Churma, the pride of Rajasthani Cuisine!! Eat any combination, Dal Bati, Churma Dal,  or the best one Dal Bati  Churma

 

Recipe makes for 3 people – Makes 10 batis

Preparation Time: 20 min

Cooking TIme :1 1/2 hour min  ( only Dal Bati- 1 hour)

Ingredients[shopeat_button]

Foe the Dal

• 1/3 cup Chana Dal ( Bengal Gram Lentils)
• 1/3  cup Tuvar Dal( Split PigeonPea Lentils)
• 1/3  cup Chilkewali Moong Dal ( Split Green Gram Lentils)
• 1 tbsp Urad Dal ( Split Black Lentils)
• 3 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• a pinch asafoetida
• 2 tsp amchur(dry mango powder)
• 2 tsp tamarind pulp
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 6 cups water
• salt to taste

For the Bati

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1/4 tsp ajwain seeds(carom seeds)
• 8 tbsp milk
• 4 tbsp melted ghee(clarified butter)
• salt to taste
• 6 cups of water to boil batis

For the Churma

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup semolina
• 6 almonds sliced
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/2 cup sliced jaggery
• 3/4 cup sugar(or 1/2 cup jaggery)
• 4 tbsp melted ghee for churma dough
• About 2 cups of ghee for frying

For serving

• 1/2 cup melted ghee

Method

Cooking of the Dal Lentils

• Mix all the lentils/dal and wash thrice and soak in 3 cups of water for about 1 hour.
• Pressure cook the dal/lentils upto 3 whistles, till cooked.

• In 3 tbsp water, mix turmeric, chilli powder and coriander powder and make a paste.

• Heat the ghee and add bay leaves. When they become red, add asafoetida, cumin seeds.

• As cumin seeds become brown, saute the paste for 2-3 min.

• Add the cooked lentils, salt, 3 cups of water and simmer for 10 min.
• Add tamarind pulp and amchur powder and simmer for 20 min.

• Add garam masala, simmer for 5 min and remove from flame and cover with lid.

For the Batis

• Make a firm dough by mixing all the ingredients. You should not need water, if needed add very little water. The dough will have cracks and difficult to firm.

• Make 9-10 balls and the balls will have cracks, which is how it should be.

• Flatten the balls a bit, and make a indent in the center, all the way through, like a doughnut. This way it will help to cook the center of bati better.

• Put the water to boil, in a broad vessel and boil the batis in it for 20 min over medium high flame.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake on the middle rack for about 20 -25 min until golden brown. Batis need to be the last one to be cooked as it needs to be served warm right from the oven.

For the Churma

• Mix everything in a broad plate and add maximum half cup of water to make a stiff dough.

• Make 8-9 lump shaped oval balls.
• 
• Heat the ghee for frying, once heated, put it to slow flame, and fry until orange brown. This will take 20 min or so.

• Cool for about 10 min and then break the churma balls into pieces, using pestle.
• Add jaggery, sugar and pulse  grind to fine consistency.
• Add cardamom powder and almonds and mix well.

Serving Dal Bati Churma

• Put the batis on a plate, and drizzle melted ghee in the center and top and serve with warm dal and churma.

How to eat Dal Bati Churma

• Break the bati into couple of pieces, pour the dal/lentils and mix in some churma.  You can eat plain churma too, with some melted ghee on top. Try any combination you like, as bati and churma or churma dal or all three dal bati and churma.

 

Tips

Baking Bati is an area that requires a little experience. Turn the batis tray half way through.Flip the batis also half way through, specially if  not using convection baked oven. Alternatively we can cook the same for 20 min on Gas tandoor, that is how traditionally it is cooked.

Churma can be made well in advanced and also consumed subsequently for a week or so.

Instinct Factor

Adjust the consistency of dal, so that it has some pouring consistency and has some thickness too.

Add saffron strands to the churma to make it more richer in look and taste.

Because I was celebrating Holi on this day , I decided to make a mound as in Holi of Churma with a hole in the center for celebratory feel!

Feel Factor

Best way to experience the richness of dal bati churma lentils with hard wheat rolls,  is to eat it using your hands , and may that is why it is such a satisfying, rich and simple local meal. No wonder that it is a must have meal in weddings, special occasion and truly deserves its  place of pride in Rajasthani Cuisine. A rich item easily on a  menu list  for the Jain festivals too! Some people may need to cultivate a taste for this, but if your are bread fan, bati is an  authentic hard wheat rolls that I have come across in Indian Cuisine . Definitely a dish, one should taste at least once, for its texture, composition and combination. Like chole bhature or any other lentils, this recipe also has n number of variants,  as it is such a local food, that the flavour and taste changes evey few hundred miles. Hope you find your flavour of dal bati churma, here or in the land of Rajasthan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients