Dal Baati Churma
Dal Baati Churma is a traditional Rajasthani dish which is a combination of hard baked whole wheat balls served with ghee and dal tadka. Churma is a mildly sweet dish made from crumbled baati, sugar, ghee and dry fruits.
Equipment
- Measuring Cups & Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
For Baati
- 2.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- ¼ cup Semolina or Sooji
- ¾ cup Ghee or Clarified Butter ¼ cup for kneading dough + ½ cup for frying
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- 1½ tsp Salt
For Panchmel Dal
- ¼ cup Split Green Moong Dal
- ¼ cup Toor Dal
- ¼ cup Masoor Dal
- ¼ cup Moong Dal
- 2 tbsp Channa Dal
- 1 large Onion
- 2 medium Tomatoes
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1½ inch Ginger
- 5-6 cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp Jeera
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 2 tsp Dhaniya or Coriander Powder
- 2 Whole Red Chillies
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida or Hing
- 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander chopped
- Juice of Half Lemon
- Salt to taste
For Churma
- 4 Baati
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- 6-7 nos Almond
- 6-7 nos Pistachio Nuts
- ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
Instructions
- For making the dough for baati, mix the whole wheat flour, semolina, salt, baking soda and ¼th cup ghee and mix well. The ghee must be incorporated well into the flour.
- Now gradually add little water and knead this to a tight and stiff dough.
- The dough must be stiffer than a Puri dough. Let the dough rest for around 15-20 minutes. In the meanwhile preheat the oven to 170 degrees (with bottom and top grill on and fan mode on too).
- Make around 14 balls out of the dough. Do not roll it smooth. It is ok to have some fine cracks or imperfections in the ball. Place them on the oven tray and place them in the oven with the bake time as 50 minutes.
- Open the oven after 25 mins and flip the baatis and place them back in the oven. The baatis must start cracking by themselves. This is an important sign of good baati.
- After cooking the baati for another 25 minutes, the baati must be fully cooked. The time might slightly vary depending on the oven. But once done, the baati must feel firm and well cooked through inside as well.
- For making Churma, reserve 4 baatis out of the baked baatis. The remaining baatis can either be immediately dipped in ghee and soaked for around 10 minutes, or can be shallow fried in ghee. For shallow frying, heat ½ cup ghee in a small kadai and add around 4-5 baatis at once and toss them for around 2-3 minutes till they absorb the ghee well. Repeat the process for all the remaining baatis.
- For making the panchmel dal, mix all the 5 dal mentioned in the ingredients. Wash the dal well.
- Pressure cook the dal with around 2.5 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric for around 5-6 whistles. If you are cooking in Instant pot, cook in Pressure cook mode for 16 minutes.
- In a kadai, add 3 tablespoons ghee and add jeera, asafoetida, finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté for a minute.
- Now add one finely chopped onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and some salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, dhaniya powder and salt with little water and make a thin paste.
- Add this masala mixture to the kadai and cook on medium flame for 5-6 minutes till the ghee separates on top.
- Once the ghee separates, add the cooked dal and some salt mix. Add water to adjust the consistency. Bring it to a gentle boil and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Finish the dal with fresh chopped coriander leaves and juice of half lemon. You can add an extra tadka with some more ghee, broken red chillies, Kashmiri red chilli powder and dhaniya powder.
- For making the churma, cool the 4 baatis that were reserved earlier. Crush the baatis with hand roughly.
- Add the crushed baatis in a mixer and pulse grind till it is powdered. Heat a kadai and add 1 tablespoon ghee and roast the powdered baati on medium flame for around 5-6 minutes till it is golden brown. Add 2 more tablespoons of ghee and cook for a minute more.
- Cool this mixture thoroughly. Then add around half cup powdered sugar, cardamom powder and chopped badam and pistachio nuts.
- Mix well. Churma is ready.
Notes
- It is important to mix ghee while kneading the dough. Also the dough must be made stiff. Both these tips would ensure that the baati turns crisp and perfect.
- Do not roll the baati very smooth and let it have some fine cracks or imperfections. This will ensure that the baati cracks automatically while baking and cook through inside evenly.
- Baati can also be cooked in Appe or Paniyaram pan if you do not have an oven. Cook the baati in Appe pan on low flame for around 30 minutes by flipping once after 15 minutes.
- Though baati tastes best with Panchmel dal, but it can be served with other variety of dal too, like a mix of split green moong dal and channa dal too.
- Panchmel dal can also be made without onion and garlic and tastes equally good. For no onion and no garlic recipe, just increase the amount of ginger and asafoetida slightly.
- You can also add an additional tadka of ghee, red chillies, kashmiri chilli powder and dhaniya powder to the dal for that extra zing.
- Cool the baati before pulse grinding it mixer for making the churma, else it can become mushy.
- Similarly, cool the powdered and dry roasted baati well before mixing the powdered sugar, else the sugar can melt and would alter the texture of churma. You could also add some misri or candied sugar cubes for added crunch to Churma.
- Nuts are optional in Churma, you can skip them if you don't like. However nuts add to the taste and richness of Churma.