Dal Batti

It’s New Year and I wanted to start with a recipe that was so special to my family’s origin and none other than Dal Batti that came to my mind. Dal Batti is a wholesome Rajasthani meal. Dal, or lentil curry, is served with Batti, a round shaped wheat flour flour that’s baked in a charcoal fire or oven.
Batti could also be made out of flour from millet or a mix of maize and wheat flour, with loads of ghee traditionally, but here I will show you the figure friendly version.

For Dal: (Serves approximately 6 people)

1 - 1 & 1/2 cups split Mung Dal
1/2 cup - channa dal
1 medium size onion chopped
1 large tomato chopped
3 - 4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp grated ginger
4 -5 whole black peppercorns
1 - 2 green chilli pepper or as per your taste
1 - 2 tbsp oil
1 - 2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds or jeera
Salt to taste

Channa Dal and Split Green Mung Dal

Pressure cook the mung and channa dal with cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, turmeric and tomato and twice the amount of water until soft. In a pan, heat oil and saute the onions and green chillies.

Then add the cooked dal and add some more water until you have thick pouring consistency. Add salt. In a separate small pan, heat some oil (or ghee) add mustard, jeera and let the mustard seeds splutter. Now add the ginger, saute and then the red chillie powder and pour this into the Dal on top. Add some chopped cilantro or coriander for garnish.

For Batti:

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of yogurt or curd
2 tsp of Ajwain seeds or Saunf (Fennel Seeds)
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Mix the yogurt in luke warm water. Add the ajwain, oil and salt to the wheat flour and mix well. Now add the yogurt mixture and knead the dough until all the flour is well mixed. The dough needs to be a bit hard if touched after kneading. Make big size round
balls from the dough.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Cover the baking tray with aluminum foil and place the batti balls separating them from each other for about 2 inches. Let it bake for about 15 minutes. Check the dough touching the foil to have turned into golden brown. Then turn the batti balls to cook on the other side for another 15 minutes. To check if the batti balls are completely cooked, take out one from the oven, break it in the middle to check if it cooked.

Your Dal Batti is ready to be served. Crumble the bhatti in big pieces in a serving bowl, add the dal on top and immerse the batti, add some chopped onions, cilantro and lime or lemon wedges. You can also drizzle some ghee on top. Ahh, a little taste of heaven.