Dal Bati Churma -Rajasthani delicacy
Rajasthan is the land of the desert sands, of the bravery of the Rajputana clan, of the lore of Padmini and Jauhar. It is also the land of Lal Maas and dal bati churma. Dal Bati churma is a whole meal made of flour balls, accompanied by lentils and a crumble taste enhancer. Though there is no definite record, popular belief has the dish going back to the time of the legendary Bappa Rawal. Tasty bore out of the hard ways of the desert, the dal bati and then the added churma has transcended time to become an ever-popular food not just confined in the desert heat of Rajasthan, but tickles the palate of one and all across the country. The bati is sometimes compared t the litti of Bihar, but essentially different in not being stuffed by sattu or gram flour that the litti is made of. Also, the side is of dal or lentils instead of the chokha which is usually made of mashed potato or braized brinjal
The legendary Bappa Rawal, a Guhila warrior who is credited with driving away the Mlecchas from Chittoor and establishing the Mewar kingdom in about the 8th century. The official meal of this nomadic warrior tribe at the time of war was believed to be the bati. The dough was said to be broken into rounded balls and buried in the sand before the soldiers went out to war. The heat of the desert sand would bake these roundels ready to be dunked in ghee (clarified butter) and enjoyed by the time the soldiers returned. If you had curd or buttermilk made from camel’s milk on this, it was a good day for the soldier. The progress of civilization meant enhancing of the food and so dal especially a panchmael or mixed dal was first added. Though the common man still enjoyed the bati with just ghee and buttermilk, upper castes and royal chefs experimented and added the dal first and then the churma to the food to make it a complete meal. The origin of the churma is believed to be either of two ways, accident or a need for preservation. One school believes that the wartime hurry led to bati falling in jaggery and so the churma was made. The other believes that the bati was dipped in jaggery to preserve the bati for longer time periods and in so doing the crumbly churma was discovered and thus added onto the dish.
As the case may be our food journey with this Rajasthani delicacy will involve making of the dal, and the bati and then converting some of the bati into churma to make the complete dish. Like any journey we embark on, our starting point is always the pantry of my mother’s kitchen so for a portion serving 3 people we would need the following ingredients indicated to make each element of the dish
For the Dal
- Moong dal (green gram) 1 and ½ cup
- Masoor dal (pink lentil) ¾ cup
- Chana Dal (Bengal Gram) ¾ cup
- Ghee (clarified butter) 9-10 tsp
- Mustard 3 tsp
- Jeera (cumin) 3 tsp
- Hing (astofaed) 1 pinch or to taste
- Onion finely chopped 3 medium
- Ginger garlic paste 3 tsp
- Green chili 3
- Tomato 3 medium again finely chopped
- Haldi (turmeric) ¾ tsp
- Kashmiri red chili powder 2 tsp
- Garam masala 1 tsp
- Coriander 2 -3 sprigs finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- Water as per requirement
For Bati
- Atta (wheat flour) 6 cups
- Baking powder ¾ tsp
- Ghee 1 cup
- Salt to taste
- Water to knead
For Churma
- Powdered sugar 9-10 tbsp (optionally jaggery might be used)
- Cashew and almond mix chopped finely 8-9 tbsp
- Dalchini (cardamom) powder ¾ tsp
- Ghee 6-7 tbsp
Now that our pantry visit is over let us get cooking. To start off we will start by chopping the necessary ingredient such as the onions, tomato, and nuts finely. We will also soak the chana dal in lukewarm/tepid water for 30 minutes. Now that we are ready let us roll our sleeves and don our chef’s hat. We will first get the dal steamed. In a pressure cooker, we put in all the various dals that we have measured out, add about 4 cups of water and a bit of ghee, and put to steam. About 4 to 5 whistles should make the dal ready for cooking
While the dal steams, we will get busy making the bati. In a large mixing bowl take wheat flour as measured, along with the measured baking powder, salt to taste, and ¾ cup of ghee. This is now thoroughly mixed and rolled into a dough. The water is now added progressively as we knead the dough ensuring a smooth dough that’s moist but not runny. We now pinch out portions of this dough and roll into balls marking the top with an x. These are now placed in a mould tray which could be the tray of an idli maker or an appam pan. Of course, each mould needs to be greased with ghee before placing the roundels. This is now covered and allowed to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and flip over and again cover and cook for about 15 minutes and flip over and again cover and cook for about 15 minutes. The bati should be ready now. Remove and set aside. Alternatively, you can use a greased mould with the roundels and place it in an oven preheated at 200 C for 10 minutes and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of baking, flip the bati and bake again for another 10 minutes at 200 C
By this time the dal should be steamed and the pressure cooker steam released. Take it out and in a large wok heat about 2 tsp of ghee and temper with mustard hing and Jira. The mustard would be sputtering as it tempers. Now add the green chili and the finely chopped onion and saute. As the onion is fried, add ginger garlic paste and saute till it blends with the frying onions. Now add the chopped tomato and saute till oil starts separating. To this add the haldi, red chili powder, and salt as measured out earlier. Now add the cooked dal and water to this and simmer over a low flame for 15 minutes. Once the spices have been imbibed add 1 tbsp of ghee and garam masala powder. Remove from flame and set aside.
By this time a batch of bati would be ready to convert into churma. So we take about 3-4 bati and crush. A mixer grinder could be used to make it into a coarse powder. Now, this coarse mix is roasted in a pan in about 2 tsp ghee. A low flame is used t0 roast this for 7 to 10 minutes till it turns golden brown. The powdered sugar is now added to this mix along with the shipped nuts and the cardamom powder and thoroughly mixed. The churma is ready. alternatively, jaggery can be used instead of powdered sugar.
To serve the dal bati churma now, make a portion of about 4 bati and dunk it in ghee, and serve with a bowl of the dal and a bowl of the churma as sides. The decadence of the taste improves with the amount of ghee you use to dunk the bati in. The nuts will also enrich the taste of the churma
Like all things coming out of my bong mom’s kitchen, cooking is never complete without two very special ingredients. No luggage they say is heavy, no path tiresome when it is carried and tread with love. So while dunking the bati with ghee make sure to dunk with as much love as the ghee. Love gives warmth and hence smiles. So go ahead and smile your best and warmest smile as you make this time transcending delicacy. The taste of the food will also transcend your expectations. Bon Appétit.
