Dal baati

Anyone who know me I love authentic food from virtually any part of India, and when I saw a picture of the Rajasthani dal baati, I was immediately transported back to a thali lunch I had with my mother at Rajdhani. With so many available dishes, I didn't enjoy it as much that day as I should have, but more than made up for it when I cooked it myself.


For the dal:
1/4 cup moong dal (dhuli)
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup chana dal
1/8 cup urad dal (dhuli)
1/8 cup green moong dal
1/2 tsp haldi powder
Salt to taste

For tempering of dal:
2-3 clove
2 bay leaves
1 green cardamon
1 inch piece cinnamon
1 tsp jeera
A pinch of hing
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 green chilli, chopped
1 inch ginger, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ghee


For Baati:
2 cups wholewheat flour
1 cup rawa
1/4 tsp ajwain
1/3 cup ghee
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt


Method:
For dal:
Soak the dals for 2-3 hours to soften it.
Pressure cook the dals with salt and haldi powder for 20 minutes after the first whistle (or cook on an open flame, till soft).
Heat the ghee, add hing, bay leaves, connamon, cloves, jeera and let it splutter till jeera turns dark. Add chopped chillis and ginger and saute on low heat for a minute. Add chilli powder, and pour the ghee over the dal.
Cover the dal and let the flavours infuse. Bring to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.

For baati:
Mix the dry ingredients well. And ghee and mix till crumbly. Add a little water, and knead to form a tight dough. Cover with a cloth and let it stand for 1 hour.
Make lemon sized balls, flatten slightly and make a depression in the centre.
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
Lightly grease a baking tray, and bake for 15-20 minutes till golden.
Flip and bake the other side.

To eat, break the baatis in half, pour ghee over them, and have with dal.

Aambatti

Another dish I first tasted in office and liked enough to ask for the recipe. Full of proteins and packed with taste, it is a winner of a dish.

1/3 cup channa dal, soaked for 3 hours

1 green mango

1 green chillie

1 tsp jeera seeds

Salt to taste 

Method:

Soak the dal overnight, or atleast for a few hours. 

Grind coarsely and keep aside

Grate the raw mango and keep aside

Mix mango, pulses, salt and jeera powder. 

Serve with roti or as a stand alone snack 

Dhirde- Maharashtrian dosa

I had this in office, and really loved the mix of flavours. I was told that the flour had to be freshly ground, so put it out of my mind. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks later, I located a grocer who did grind flour to your proportions, so got the flour made. It was one of the best things I did, because now, I can whip up a tasty meal whenever I want, without the need to plan.

1 kg whole wheat
200 gms channa dal
25 gms methi seeds
25 gms jeera seeds

Method:
Roast the methi seeds, jeera seeds and channa dal till fragrant.
Grind with 1 kg wheat, to get the basic flour for dhirde

To make dhirde:
Mix the flour with- 
- Green chilli paste
- Ginger paste
- Onions, chopped fine
- Curds
and make a runny batter. Add some water if required- the consistency should be similar to that of dosa batter.
Heat the tawa, and spread the batter as you would for a dosa. Sprinkle oil along the edges, and allow to cook on a medium flame. Flip over, and cook the other side.

Mixed peel chutney

My mother hates wasting anything, and since she is convinced that the bulk of the nutrients reside in the peel, she saves all the peels she can find, to make what she calls "mixed peel chutney". Why she can't just cook veggies with their peel is beyond me, but since the chutney is tasty, I'm not complaining!

1/2 cup mixed peels (carrots, cucumbers work best)

2 to 3 tbsp roasted channa dal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 to 3 green chillis

1 small ball tamarind

2 tbsp jaggery

Salt to taste

Oil

Heat the oil, and temper with mustard seeds and chillies. 

Reduce the flame, add the mixed peels (chopped into small pieces), and sauté till cooked.

Blend with tamarind, jaggery and salt till you get the desired consistency.

Rajasthani Dal Dhokli

I love the Gujarati dal dhokli almost as much as I love what my mother calls "alphabet soup", so when I saw a recipe for Rajasthani dal dhokli, I knew I had to try it out right away. Luckily, I had all the ingredients at home (including the most wonderful curry leaves I have tasted in a long, long time), so I didn't have to wait more than a few hours for it.

And it was every bit as wonderful as I hoped it would be.

For the dhokali
2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup  gram flour
Red chili powder to taste
Jeera powder
Dhania powder
Salt to taste
Sesame seeds
Water

For the dal
100 gm split bengal gram + split red gram + split .green gram
 Red chili powder
Turmeric powder 
Salt to taste
Water

For the tadka
1 medium onion chopped lengthwise
4 cloves
1 broken dry red chili
1 tsp Zeera
1 tsp Mustard seeds
A pinch of hing
1 spring curry leaves
Red chili powder 
1/2 tsp ginger grated
oil for frying

Method
Pressure cook the dal with turmeric and salt till soft. Remove from the cooker, add chili powder and chili, and keep it on a higher flame.
While the dal is cooking, mix all the ingredients for the dhokli, knead to form a dough, roll and cut into desired shapes.
Add dhokali to the dal one by one, and cook for 15 to 20 minute or till done.

Prepare tadka, and pour it over the dal dhokali mixture. Let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Great with rice, or just like that.

Bengali Cholar dal

I've always loved the Bengali Cholar dal. I made it today after a very, very, very long time, and just had to post it here.

1 measure channa dal

2 bay leaves

1 stick cinnamon

1 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp ghee

2 red chillies

1 tsp jeera

1 tbsp grated coconut

Salt and sugar to taste

Pressure cook the channa dal with bay leaves, cinnamon stick, haldi powder and red chilli powder, till the dal is soft.

Heat the ghee, add jeera, and when it starts spluttering, add the whole red chillies and the coconut and roast lightly till the coconut starts turning brown.

Pour the cooked dal into the pan, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Adjust salt and sugar to taste.

Ideally, it should be had with hot luchis, but rotis will do in a pinch.

Unlike most Indian dals, this one should not be too runny. You can also add raisins with the coconut, but I don’t because nobody in the family likes it much.