The 3 in 1 Rajasthani delight is a combination that will steal your heart and excite your taste buds that have sweet and savoury flavours together and a must food to try in Jodhpur. A sweet Churma, spicy Dal and a baked Baati drowned in ghee. Sounds like a perfect meal. Because of climatic conditions and scarcity of water Rajasthanis have developed a cuisine that can be prepared and stored for days. At Manvar, our desert camp in Jodhpur, we have this speciality cooked by the local staff to give you the authentic flavour.
Ingredients:
Ingredients for Baati and Churma:
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour,
1 cup Sooji (Semolina/ Rava)
1/2 cup Ghee
1 teaspoon Ajwain (Carom seeds)
1 teaspoon Baking powder
Salt to taste
1/4 cup Jaggery, for Churma
Ingredients for Dal:
1/4 cup Green Moong Dal (Split)
1/4 cup Black Urad Dal (Split)
1/4 cup Chana dal (Bengal Gram Dal)
1 Onion, finely chopped
1-inch Ginger, finely chopped
1 Green Chilli, slit
3 clove Garlic, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
1 Bay leaf (Tej Patta)
1-inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini)
1 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
5 sprig Coriander (Dhania) Leaves, chopped
Ingredients for Tadka:
1 teaspoon Ghee
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
2 Dry Red Chillies, halved
Recipe:
To begin we will first make the Baati.
Combine all the ingredients for the Baati together, except the jaggery Add water to combine it to make a smooth but stiff dough. Leave the dough aside for 20 minutes so it rests and becomes fluffy with the baking powder that we added.
Once the dough is well rested, knead again for a few minutes.
Divide the dough into lemon size portions. Preheat the oven to 180 C and bake the Baati in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. Keep turning the baatis around, until it is browned from all sides. The Baatis will tend to crack from the top while it is baking and that’s completely natural.
For Churma, bake 3-4 Baatis, crush them and combine them with jaggery in a mixer to make a coarse powder. Churma is ready.
To make the dal, add all the ingredients into the pressure cooker and add 2-1-/2 cups of water and pressure-cook the dal for two to three whistles.
After two whistles, turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat.
Check the salt and spices and adjust to suit your taste once the pressure is released completely. Transfer the dal to a serving bowl.
To make the tadka, heat ghee in a small pan, add the cumin seeds and red chillies. Allow them to roast and crackle. Once done, turn off the heat and pour the seasoning over the dal and serve with the hot baatis.
In a small serving bowl, add 2 Baatis, lightly crush them, drizzle some ghee over the baked baatis. Pour the dal over the baked baatis and serve. You can add Churma over the baatis for a sweet and spicy experience.
History Of Daal Baati Churma:
Dal Baati Churma has been an important part of Rajasthani cuisine. The dish is believed to be originated during the reign of Bappa Rawal, the founder of the Mewar Kingdom in Rajasthan. Baati was considered a wartime meal.
Origin of Baati
The Rajput soldiers used to leave the chunked dough buried in the sand before leaving for the war. By the time they returned, the dough was baked by the scorching heat of the sun. Then they used to dig out those perfectly baked Baatis, slathered them with ghee, and consumed them along with some curd.
When traders from the Gupta Empire settled in Mewar, the combination of Dal and Baati became popular – Panchmel Dal was a favourite in the royal court of the Guptas. The Panchmel Dal is a simple and nutritious mix of five lentils tempered with cumin, cloves, dried red chilli, and some other spices.
Churma is a sweet dish that has been invented accidentally by the cook of Mewar’s Guhilot he poured sugarcane juice into some baatis. This eventually evolved into Churma, a sweetened crushed Baati.
When it comes to authentic Rajasthani food, then the first thing which comes to everybody’s mind is definitely ‘Dal Baati Churma’. There is an endless list of delicious food to try in Jodhpur like Malai Ghevar, Besan Gatte Ki Sabzi, Mishri Mawa, Pyaaz Ki Kachori, Mawa Malpua, Khooba Roti, Mawa Kachori, and so on. Jodhpur is a heaven for a foodie with choices of so many Royal Rajasthani delicacies.
If you want to learn about more specialities of Rajasthan, you can visit our blog Traditional Recipes of Rajasthan. And you can try all of these at Manvar, our desert camp in Jodhpur.