Dal Bati (Rajasthani cuisine)



When you mention about Rajasthani food dal bati has to be on the top of the list, otherwise it is incomplete. Dal bati is a popular Rajasthani delicacy. Dal is simply soup of mixed lentils, cooked with spices. Bati is a baked, whole wheat bread rolls and the combination is known as dal bati. Traditionally bati is cooked over charcoal, but oven also works great.
  First time I had dal bati in Udeypur, Neel kamal a restaurant with royal setting that was a memorable experience. They served dal bati with buttermilk known as chaach. I suggest having this for leisurely lunch/dinner.

Recipe will serve 2
Makes 8 Batties


Ingredients:
For Dal

• 1/4cup chana dal (split gram)
• 1/4 cup toor dal
• 1/4 cup moong dal (split with skin)
• 1/4 cup urad dal (split black lentil with skin)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 2 teaspoon ginger grated
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

For seasoning

• 3 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 dried red chili broken in pieces

For Bati

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (roti ka atta)
• 1/4 cup fine sooji (semolina)
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup clarified butter (ghee)
• 1/2 cup milk use as needed

For serving

• About 1/4 cup hot clarify butter (ghee)

Method

1. Combine all dals, wash changing water few times. In a pressure cooker add dal with 4 cups of water, salt, turmeric, coriander powder, and ginger, cook on medium high.
2. After pressure cooker start steaming lower the heat to medium and cook for about eight minutes. Turn off the heat; wait until all the steam has escaped before opening the cooker.
3. Dal should be soft and mushy, consistency of the pourable batter, if needed add hot water. The consistency of the dal will thicken over time.
4. Add garam masala and amchoor, mix it well.
5. Heat ghee in a small saucepan for seasoning; after ghee is moderately hot add cumin seeds as they crack add  red chilies and red chili powder. Stir for a few seconds. To prevent the spices from burning, you may add 1 teaspoon of water. Pour spiced Chaunk over dhal. Mix it well and let it simmer for two to three minutes.
6. Dal is ready.

For the Bati

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
2. In a mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients together, flour, sooji, salt and baking soda. Add the ghee and mix with fingers, add the milk as need to make firm dough, knead the dough well. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and roll them into balls. They will not be very smooth dough ball and will have cracks all over; this will help them to cook all the way through. Arrange the batis over cookie sheet about one inch apart and place the pan on middle oven rack and bake at 350 degree F in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn them over and bake for another 30 minutes until batis are golden brown all around.
4. Break one bati from one side to make sure they have cooked through.

How to Serve

1. Break the bati into two pieces and pour about one teaspoon of hot melted ghee over and serve with bowl of hot dal.
2. If you have baked the batties earlier heat the batties in oven for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!