Dal Bati Churma

To Prepare Baatis:

1. Mix wheat flour, ghee and semolina in a deep bowl. Gradually add water and knead to a dough.
2. Divide the dough into eight equal portions and roll each piece in a ball. Make a dip using your thumb at the center of each ball.
3. Heat ghee and deep-fry the balls until golden-brown. Avoid overcrowding the frying pan.
4. Place fried balls on an absorbent paper to remove excess oil and cool off.
5. Split fried balls into two portions.
6. Sprinkle cardamom powder, almonds and sugar. Your churma is ready. 

To prepare dal:

1. Pressure cook lentils with four cups of water and salt up to until 3 whistles.
2. Allow the steam in the pressure cooker to dry up before you open the lid.
3. Heat the ghee and add bay leaves, cloves, cumin seeds, asafetida, green chilies and saute for a few seconds.
4. Add onions and garlic paste and let cook for 2 to 3 minutes over medium flame.
5. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, tomatoes, garam masala and chili powder and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.
6. Add cooked lentils together with a splash of water and little salt, stir to combine and cook over a low flame for about 4 minutes. Garnish with coriander. Your dal is ready. 

To Serve:

1. Place baatis in a serving dish, pour a teaspoon of melted ghee and some hot dal over the broken baatis. Sprinkle ½ tsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of onions and enjoy!

Trivia

• Littichokha a Bihari dish is very similar to dal baati, and therefore they are termed as culinary cousins by many.
• Tribal people rolled batti dough in sand burrows so that it would bake under the scorching heat of the sun.

The combination of dal and baati became very popular when the Gupta Empire settled down at Mewar.