Tag Archives: marwadi cuisine

Dal Baati Churma

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Dal Baati Churma

Dal Baati churma is probably the most popular of the Rajasthani cuisine. Ghee dipped baatis are served with a spicy dal and sweet churma laddus. Add gatte ki sabji and rice to this and this turns into a big delicious and royal Rajasthani meal for you. As with all other recipes, this is my family recipe of daal baati which my mom has been cooking for more than 40 years now. I would suggest cooking dal baati only in ghee to get the authentic taste. It is a lengthy recipe but every bite is worth the time you spend cooking this.

baati

Baatis can be baked or fried. Some people boil the baati first and fry it after that. My mom just fries the baatis in ghee. Semolina adds a nice crunch to the baatis while ghee makes them melt in mouth. Make sure to cook baatis on a low to medium flame so that they are cooked well. Some people drizzle ghee on baatis while some keep them dipped in ghee until they serve.

churma

Panchmel dal and churma are the other two importants parts of this dish. You can serve the churma in form of laddu or in powder form. Ghee again decides the taste of churma. Use desi ghee and this will take the taste of churma to another level.

Do serve the dal, baati, churma with a wedge of lime. Traditionally, piping hot dal and baati are crushed and mixed with churma and topped with more ghee and a dash of lime and fresh onion slices.

Dal Baati Churma

Ingredients

Makes  8-10 servings

For Baati

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (aata)
  • ¼ cup semolina (rava)
  • ¼ cup chickpea flour (besan)
  • ¼ cup yogurt (dahi)
  • ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • ¼ cup pure ghee
  • ¼ tsp soda bicarbonate
  • 2 pinches turmeric
  • Salt to taste
  • Ghee to fry the baati

For Dal

  • ½ cup moong dal
  • ½ cup toor dal
  • ¼ cup urad dal
  • ¼ cup chana dal
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp asafetida (heeng)
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 8-10 curry leaves
  • 1 bay leaf (tej patta)
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon (dal chini)
  • 2 cloves (laung)
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
  • Salt to taste

For Churma

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (aata)
  • ¼ cup pure ghee
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder (ilaichi)
  • 1 tbsp chopped dry fruits (almonds, pistachios and cashews)

Recipe

For Dal

Wash and soak the dals for 20-30 mins.  Drain water and put all the dals in pressure cooker. Add 4 cups water and some salt and cook for 3 whistles. Once the cooker is completely cooled, open the lid and mash the dal lightly and keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in another pan or kadhai. Add mustard seeds and once the seeps pop, add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, dried red chilli. Sauté for few seconds and add green chillies, heeng, curry leaves and grated ginger and sauté for few seconds.

Add a cup of water, turmeric, coriander powder, red chilli powder and garam masala. Once the water comes to boil, add the cooked dal and mix well. Check the consistency of dal and add more water if required.  Also, check for salt at this stage and add more salt if required. Bring the dal to boil and let it cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame. Finally add chopped coriander and switch off the gas.

For Churma

In a deep bowl, mix together the flour and ghee.  Add little water and knead firm dough. Divide the dough into eight portions. Take each portion in your palm and close your fist to make an indentation in the dough. Heat ghee in a frying pan and deep fry the dough portions till they are golden brown. Fry them on low flame. Drain on absorbent paper and let them cool down completely.

Once they are cooled, break them into pieces and grind them to powder using a grinder. Add sugar, cardamom powder, and dry fruits and mix well. You can serve the churma like this in powder form or you can even make laddus out of it. To make laddus, heat 2 tbsp ghee and pour it on churma and mix well. Grease your palms with some ghee and take 1-2 tbsp of churma in your hand and roll it into round balls.

For Baati

Mix all the ingredients for baati and knead firm dough using little water and rest it for 5-10 minutes. Knead the dough again for 5-6 minutes. Divide the dough into 20 portions. You can make more or less baatis depending on the size of the baati you like. Shape each portion into an even sized ball and flatten the balls lightly using your thumb to make an indentation in the center of the baati.

Heat ghee/oil in a frying pan and fry the baatis till they are golden brown. Make sure to fry the baatis on a medium flame so that the baatis are cooked from inside too. Drain the baatis on absorbent paper and keep them aside.

To serve

Break baati in two pieces and pour a spoonful of melted ghee on top and serve with dal, churma, a wedge of lime and onion slices.

Ker Sangri

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Ker Sangri

Ker sangri is one of the most popular dishes from Rajasthan.  Ker sangri are dried berries and beans which are found in abundance in the desert. They do not look edible at first look but you have to taste this curry to know why it is so popular in Rajasthani cuisine. It is a part of almost every Rajasthani wedding menu. There are different ways to prepare this curry. This is the recipe which is cooked at my place.

You need to soak ker sangri overnight. Some people soak this in buttermilk too but plain water works fine. It swells to more than double in size. Make sure to wash it well under running water to get rid of any impurities.

If you do not have dry mango powder, you can use tamarind water to add the sourness. This curry is ideal for travelling too as it stays good for 2-3 days without refrigeration. This curry tastes best with puri, missi roti, paratha, and rotis.

Ker Sangri

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

  • ½ cup ker sangri
  • 8-10 cashewnuts broken
  • 10 raisins
  • 2 dates chopped
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
  • 2 dry red chillies broken
  • ¼ tsp asafetida (heeng)
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp dry mango powder (amchur)
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • Salt as per taste

Recipe

Soak ker sangri in water over night. Wash it well under running water.  Bring 4-5 cups of water to boil and add the ker sangri, cashews, dates, and raisins. Let them boil for 8-10 mins or until they are tender. Drain the water.

Heat oil in a deep pan or kadhai. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida, and dried red chilli. Once the seeds pop, add the boiled ker sangri, cashews, and raisins, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, sugar, and dry mango powder and ¼ cup water. Mix well. Cook for 10-12 mins till the oil floats on top. Serve with puri, roti or parathas.

 

Dal ka Seera (Moong Dal Halwa)

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Dal ka Seera (Moong Dal Halwa)

Moong dal halwa or Dal ka seera as it is called in marwadi is probably one of the best desserts from Rajasthan. It is a dessert made from coarsely ground split yellow moong dal, ghee, sugar, and dry fruits. Given the small list of ingredients, it is not at all a quick dish to prepare. Have loads of time at hand and want to give your arms a workout – then do go for this one. It is worth all the hard work. My mom prepares this in kgs for family and friends and this is her recipe. Very easy to prepare and minimal ingredients but tons of hard work and patience. Want to give it a try? Read on!

Do not reduce the amount of  ghee. It is a very important part of getting it right. Traditional sweets are high on fat and sugar but that is the reason they are unmatched and still so popular. You can replace khoa with condensed milk if khoa is not available. I like to keep it as authentic as possible so that it can match the taste of my mom’s recipe.

Use the husked moong dal and soak it in plenty of water for a good 6-8 hours. I like the seera grainy so I don’t grind the dal too fine. Grinding the dal coarse (resembling sugar) with prevent the seera from becoming sticky and paste like.

The most important part is roasting the ground dal. This is where all the hardwork comes in. You have to make sure that you roast it in on a low flame. Semolina is added to the ghee before adding the dal so that the dal does not stick a lot to the pan. But you need to keep scraping the edges and mixing it non stop till the dal stops sticking to the pan.

By end of appx 30 minutes, you should have nice brown granules of roasted dal. The aroma is enough to tell that the dal is roasted (or over roasted 🙂 )

The color of the roasted dal should be liked the skin of almonds. To make sure that the dal is roasted properly, keep mixing it even if the dal stops sticking to the pan.

The second important thing is the sugar syrup. It should be less than one string (approximately 220 degrees F or 85-90 degrees C. Cool it for couple of minutes before adding the dal.

This is  a winter time dessert and  it tastes good when it’s hot. If it gets too cold or dry, add a table spoon of milk and reheat it. Do not add water to reheat the seera.

Dal ka Seera (Moong Dal Halwa)

 

Ingredients

  • ½ cup yellow split moong dal
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup khoa
  • ½ cup ghee
  • 2 tbsp almonds chopped
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder (ilaichi)
  • 1 tsp semolina (rava)
  • 1 cup water

Recipe

Soak the moong dal in water for 6-7 hours. Drain water and grind the mung dal coarsely.

Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan or a thick kadhai. Add semolina and sauté for 10-20 seconds. Add the moong dal paste and keep mixing it on slow flame till the dal is brown in color. Add khoa and mix again for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the moong dal mixture to another bowl and keep it aside.

To make the sugar syrup, mix sugar with 1 cup water and bring to boil. Cook for 3-4 minutes. The consistency should be less than 1 string (approximately 200 degrees F/85-90 degrees C). Switch off the gas. Let the syrup cool for 2 minutes. Add the moong dal mixture and mix well. Switch on the gas and cook for 2 minutes while mixing continuously. Add almonds and cardamom powder and mix well. Serve hot.

Rajasthani Saag Rotla

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Rajasthani Saag Rotla

Rajasthan’s cuisine is as rich, colourful, and royal as the place itself. One of my sisters in law is from Jaipur and she introduced me to this winter dish called Saag rotla. It is a cauliflower and peas curry cooked in pure ghee and orange juice. It is served with thick rotis (called rotla) made of whole wheat, ghee, and milk. If you feel like indulging, you can try this dish. This dish is perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon. I surely feel sleepy after eating this.

I am not a cauliflower lover. But after tasting this dish, I have made an exception. Since this curry does not use any water, you need to cut the cauliflower very finely (it should look almost finely grated) so that it can be cooked quickly.

The essence of this curry lies in the slow cooking of vegetables in spices and orange juice. You can add as much spices and ghee as you can tolerate. I have not tried cooking it in oil yet. Cook it on the lowest flame throughout and keep mixing in between. If you feel that the curry might burn add little more orange juice but no water.

The rotla that accompanies this dish has ghee too. Knead the dough for rotla with only milk. No water again. Roll out the rotla thick and small. Cooking it on a clay tava will add to the taste. But fret not if you do not have a clay griddle. Cook it on a low gas on normal griddle and then cook both sides on open flame like normal phulka is made. Again with the ghee, drizzle as much as you can tolerate. Serve this with fresh cut onions and green chillies.

Rajasthani Saag Rotla

Ingredients

For Rotla

  • 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • 1 tbsp ghee (you can double the amount of ghee if you want softer rotis)
  • Milk to knead the dough (appx ½ cup is sufficient)
  • Salt to taste

For Saag

  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • 7-8 cloves of garlic
  • 3 tbsp chopped ginger
  • 4 green chillies
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup peas (If you are using frozen peas, thaw them in advance)
  • 2 cups finely chopped cauliflower
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder (you can increase this if you like the curry spicier)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Recipe

For the rotla

Mix all the ingredients for rotla and knead a firm dough. Cover and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10 portions. Roll out each portion into small and thick rotis and cook on a hot griddle just like phulkas. Drizzle each rotla with around 1 tsp or more of ghee.

For Saag

Grind the ginger, garlic, and green chilly to fine paste. You can add 1 tbsp water if required. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan. Add the ginger, garlic, and green chilli paste. Cook on slow flame for 3-5 minutes mixing in between. Add the onions and sauté. Cook till onions start browning. Add the peas, cauliflower, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, and turmeric. Mix well.

Add the orange juice and cover cook on slow flame for 3-5 minutes. Remove the cover and cook till the cauliflower is cooked and you see ghee on top. (appx 10-15 minutes)Keep mixing in between. Serve with hot rotla, fresh green chilli and cut onions.