Gatte Ki curry - "padhaaro mahre des re" for a vegetable free vegetarian curry

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity - Simone Weil

"गाडी रोको ड्राइवर, चलो नीचे उतरो वीरेन और इस धरती पे माथा टेकर आशीर्वाद लो" (stop the car driver, get out of the car Viren and get the blessings of this land by touching your forehead to the ground) so says the graceful and gorgeous Waheeda Rehman to a young Anil Kapoor in the film Lamhe. There is no saying no to Daayeeja (nanny) and he gets out of the airconditioned car, quickly puts his forehead to the hot, sweltering ground and runs back into the sanctuary of the cool car. Though there are many indian movies made with a backdrop of Rajasthan, for me Lamhe holds a special place in heart as I learnt about the fascinating land through the movie. And bollywood has this power to paint images in your mind that you don't even know you were capable of. If romancing with a place is possible, I do have a romantic relationship with Rajasthan :-) Until recently, Rajasthan was part of this fertile imagination in my head that included a mystical desert land full of warrior princes, beautiful girls in colorful lehengas wearing bangles all the way up the arms, splendid havelis, picturesque locales, cold romantic nights and food beyond comparison. Having visited part of Rajasthan recently, I can say that most of the imagery still continues to live on though there are no princes riding horses or camels any more, atleast it is not a daily sight in the cities :-). The place lived up to my bollywood fed imagination and didn't let me down in any way. But there is a whole lot more to the place than what Bollywood lets you imagine which can only be found when you visit and become part of that rich culture and the colorful canvass.

Our India visits have always been about visiting family and so we end up spending the time in the same radius of cities that we always do :-). But this trip we decided to build in a week of vacation before landing in the midst of family. When you have a busy work life through out the year and 3 schedules that wax and wane at different times during the year, vacations are hard to come by and precious. So getting away for a week as part of the india trip was a proposal that none of us wanted to say no to :-). Visiting Rajasthan was on bucket list for a long time and though we started with an elaborate visit plan that included Jaipur to Jaiselmer and everything in-between, time was not on our side to do justice to such a trip. We had to skip touching the desert border and make peace with Jaipur and Udaipur. No regrets though, both cities offer a wide range of rich heritage, unparalleled hospitality and an experience of the colorful Rajasthani culture. So we basked in the offerings of the lake city and the pink city. Jaiselmer is back on the bucket list for another time :-)

A striking impression for me as a first time visitor to Udaipur was of the friendliness of the people. Everyone from the hotel employees to the rickshaw driver we hired to the folks in the stores seemed genuinely gentle and friendly which just made our day every day spent there. It wasn't just the tourism industry impact but seemed ingrained in them. DD & I smiled at each other every time someone would direct their question or response only to BH and not to us, there was nothing derogatory about it as they were very respectful towards us but the conversation always happened with the man of the family. They would easily make a conversation and always eager to plan our itinerary with helpful tips that only locals would be aware of and we took all the advise that was offered to us. We found the same hospitality in Jaipur as well though it is a bigger and more commercial place and more used to tourists.

The demonetization by Indian government was still fresh when we visited and most people were cash strapped. We didn't realize how bad it was until the bills in the wallet had gone spent soon after we took them from the bank when we landed in Mumbai. The daily ATM withdrawal was 4K and when you are a tourist and need to pay cash for every transaction, you really feel the pinch and quickly too as the money seemed to vanish the moment it came out of the machine. To add to the woes, most ATMs never had cash and we spent quite a bit of our vacation time on the road stopping at every ATM to try our luck. A sunday holiday in the middle of our week there only added to the cash starved tourist plight :-)

What I appreciate most about the human ingenuity is that we have this uncanny ability and strength to dig ourselves out of any mess, imposed on us by others or by ourselves. Our cab driver, knowing that we had limited cash that might eat into what we owed him at the end of the day, would stop at gas stations and let us pay for the diesel in the morning as we set out for the day. Almost all gas stations take your credit cards. This guaranteed that we would have spending money and were also able to pay him when we were done :-). Plastic cards are not as prevalent in India as here and most of the small vendors, artisans and road side hawkers have no ability to accept one. Our cab driver infact loaned us a few hundred bucks as we wanted to catch the light and sound show in the Jaipur palace since they wouldn't take the cards. He literally saved our day :-). Thankfully, banks opened on Monday and we were able to pay him back before leaving. The network of cab drivers is unbelievably strong and a well oiled machine. They send messages to each other on which ATM had cash so the clients could be driven there first thing in the morning and also had the inside track knowledge that the cash limit was higher if you had a non indian bank card. So everything turned out well in the end and we had a dream vacation to remember for a long time to come.

Though I liked everything about Rajasthan, food is on a different pedestal altogether. With its high concentration of people that follow Jainism, the place is a vegetarian foodie's dream come true. More than one person had told me that I would find the food delectable and very different but I still wasn't prepared for the taste until I had my first bite. The variety of ghee laden soft rotis (wheat, bajra, missi) itself is enough to satisfy a foodie but the curries served with it are a different ball game. Rajasthan being the desert, green, fresh vegetables are not easy to come by as in other places and it is no surprise that the enterprising people have found ingredients to make the tastiest of the side dishes without developing an enormous dependency on the vegetables.

Versatile potatoes were found commonly along with okra, however outside of these two vegetables the thali (meal plate) almost entirely made do with dals, lentils, besan to offer a distinctive taste in each of the little servings. Yogurt is the key player not only in the usual kadhi but also in many of the gravy preparations. It was easy to see what was going on in the kitchen since many of the places we went for dinner were outdoors and the kitchen was just in one of the nooks. Dal baati made the center piece in many meals and the one dish that is unique to Rajasthani cuisine is the gatte ki sazi/sabji/curry, a gravy made with gram flour dumplings in a yogurt/tomato sauce. It is tangy, spicy and filling all rolled into a single bowl and makes a great side dish for the fresh, hot off the tawa rotis. The preparation ensures that each ingredient lends its best flavor to the dish. Jain delicacies skip onion and garlic in their preparations and even if you are hard core fan of these two herbs, you will not miss them at all while eating a Jain dish.

I was such a gatte smitten foodie  that I ended up getting it for most of meals during that entire week and the taste was still on the tip of my tongue as I traveled beyond Rajasthan, ate other goodies, wrapped up my India trip, came back home and started eating our regular food :-). This past week was a birthday week at home and we ended up adding gatte ki curry into the celebration menu. BH said it took him back to the Udaipur dinner we had :-) and I take that as a compliment.

There are obviously many ways of making gatte ki curry and I found each bowl I ate in 5 different place across Udaipur and Jaipur had subtle differences, this is just the variations from one professional chef to the other not to speak of the umpteen home made versions. There is a Govind gatte subji in which the gattes are stuffed with paneer and additional spices so the culinary experience goes a notch even higher. When I wanted to make gatte ki curry on my own and in my kitchen, here is what I did. Stood in the middle of the kitchen, put on my thinking cap and tried to remember every taste bud  that had tingled when I ate this curry in Rajasthan, then marched over to the pantry to don the apron on self and got to work with the ingredients to reproduce the same, exact feeling at home. Ok, that was just over dramatization of what happened :-). What I have here is a really lip smacking gatte ki curry with a number of tips to get it right even on your first try. I am thrilled I was able to replicate the taste of Rajasthan in my own kitchen and can revisit any time I feel like.

The list of ingredients and procedure looks longish but don't let that deter you. You will find that the ingredients are mostly common between the gatte and the curry and also the procedure is simple enough once you get the hang of it. No complicated grind, chop etc in this one. Go ahead and give it a try, you will be a fan in no time I guarantee you.
What do you need to make Gatte ki curry?
For the gattas: 
1 cup besan/chickpea flour/gram flour
1.5 Tbsp oil
1.5 Tbsp yogurt
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp red chili powder
1/4 Tsp asafoetida/hing
1 Tsp crushed coriander seeds
1/4 Tsp crushed ajwain/carom seeds
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp kasoori methi
5 cups water for boiling gattas
2 Tbsp oil for roasting gattas

For the curry: 
2 tomatoes (2 cups when chopped roughly)
3-4 green chilies (adjust to preferred spice tolerance)
1 inch piece ginger
4 cashews soaked for 30 mins (optional and can do without)
1 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp asafoetida/hing
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste) - use a bright colored one for the rich hue
1/2 Tsp coriander powder
1/2 Tsp garam masala powder
1 Tsp besan/chickpea flour/gram flour
2 Tbsp oil
1 cup yogurt
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

How do you make Gatte ki curry? 
Making the gattas: 

• Take a wide bowl (so you can move your fingers easily), sieve besan into it to remove any small lumps in the dry flour. 
• Add all the dry ingredients - salt, red chili powder, hing, turmeric powder, crushed coriander, ajwain and kasoori methi. 

• Mix well with your fingers so hing (especially if you are using the wet variety) doesn't stay in one place. 
• Add oil and yogurt into the bowl and mixing with your fingers, bring everything together to form a lump. 

• Add a sprinkle of water if the mixture is very dry (depends on the consistency of your yogurt, I didn't add any water). 
• scrape everything sticking to your fingers, smear a drop of oil on your hand and continue to bring the mixture together into a hard dough and knead it for a couple of minutes. Taste test and adjust salt, chili powder as needed. 

• Keep a sauce pan with 5 cups of water on the stove and bring the water to a rolling boil. 
• Break the dough into 4 equal portions, make a ball and roll it into a log about 1/2inch thickness, smooth the ends. Repeat with all 4 portions.

• Now take the logs one by one and gently immerse in the boiling water, give about 30secs between each log going in to the water to avoid water temperature from falling. 
• Boil the logs for 10-12 mins or until a tooth pick comes out clean. After about 5mins, the logs start to rise to the top of the water. 

• Switch off and strain the water out, reserving it for later use. Let the logs cool down completely before cutting them into bite sized pieces. 
• Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a flat, non stick pan, add the cooled gatte pieces and roast on medium heat until they get a coating of nice golden color on all sides. switch off and keep aside until ready to use. (Do not start eating them as they can be quite addictive :-))

Making the curry or sauce: 

• Make a smooth paste of tomatoes, green chilies, ginger and soaked cashews (if using). 
• Heat oil in a kadai/pan, add cumin seeds and let it splutter. 
• Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, hing and red chili powder to the hot oil and roast for a minute so the flavors are enhanced. 

• Add the ground tomato paste and let it cook on medium heat for 8-10 mins or until the paste looks dry and starts to ooze oil from the sides. 

• At this stage, add whisked yogurt slowly into the pan while stirring constantly. Keep the heat on lowest. 
• Increase heat to medium and let it come to a gentle boil. 

• Add a Tsp of besan in a Tbsp of the reserved water and make a slurry. 
• Add the slurry along with remaining reserved water to the curry and let it boil.  
• At this stage, taste test the curry and adjust any spices to suit your palate. Add more water if you want the curry to be a thinner. 
• Add garam masala powder and salt, mix it in and let cook for a minute. 
• Add the prepared gattas into the curry and switch off. 

• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis or steamed rice. 

Notes: 

• Besan dough is very sticky unlike the wheat flour dough, ensure you do not make a soft dough. When you make a ball of the dough and place it on the plate, it should not spread but hold the same shape as before. 
• Keep yogurt at room temperature before you start adding it to any hot gravies. This helps to get a smooth texture. 
• Whisking yogurt is also important to get a smooth texture. 
• You can add the dry spices in the gravy later but I found that when these are given an opportunity to roast in hot oil, the flavors are enhanced considerably. Garam masala is added at the end for its complex flavor. 
• These taste best with hot rotis but you can serve it with plain rice or a mildly flavored jeera rice. 

• You can add onion and garlic in this curry. I do not personally like onion in yogurt based gravies and avoid it. Garlic is not a regular in my kitchen and hence it is omitted. 
• If you are adding onion, make a paste or grate it and add it before the tomato paste and let it cook for a few minutes to rid of the raw smell. 
• Gattes are traditionally deep fried after they are boiled to make them richer, crispier and obviously more calorie dense. I chose to shallow fry with a couple Tbsp of oil and I didn't miss the lack of extra oil. 
• The thickness of the gattes is a personal preference, I though like to think of the log size as 1.5 pencils stacked together. The cooking time may vary based on the thickness. 
• Keep the water boiling before adding the logs, this prevents them from breaking. 

Methi Aur Papad ki sabzi (*translation*) Fenugreek and Papad curry :-)

Dasara came and went by, Deepavali is just around the corner and I am way behind with my recipe posting :-). Much as I love blogging, I love the rest of my life too and sometimes things, events happening outside the context of the blog take over and doesn't let me come here as often as I would wish for. And then there is my old, old buddy called laziness which makes up excuses to not sit and write on the blog. This buddy is very powerful and has at his command another spoiler named 'blogger's block' and when it makes it way towards me, I am just a helpless lump not able to type two straight coherent words on my laptop. It is very similar to dementors from the Potter world that seem to suck away all my energy. The gloomy, breezy, cold weather doesn't make it any easier to get to work on the recipes either.

I hope you understand how many obstacles I have to overcome to get that wonderful dish that stole our hearts and satiated the tummy make its way to this blog and into your kitchens. But, be assured I am working on my will power which is the worst enemy of laziness and can even overcome the blogger's block. The current status is that my will power is in the process of growing up :-). So a little patience and wait is all that is needed. Why all that talk about dementors, and Harry Potter, you ask? Well, turn around (or wherever you have a calendar close to you) and check todays' date. Yep, Happy Halloween everybody, whether you go trick or treating or not, whether you get donned in a costume or not, this is the time to work with those huge, orange pumpkins. If you are (like me) not artistic enough to carve a jack-O-lantern, then make a spicy pumpkin soup and enjoy :-) with a side of good candies. Make them dark chocolate and you are all set.

I hope I haven't told you this joke before on the blog, even if I have it is ok to hear it for a second time. The chances are if I don't remember if I blogged about this before, you certainly won't remember having read it on the blog. So here it is - one of my bachelor colleagues a few years ago (when we were all much younger and new to the country and brand new to Halloween celebrations) opened the door of his apartment when the bell rang in the evening to find a little kid with a bag of candies. Obviously the kid was there to ask for candies but this culture agnostic friend of mine, dipped his hands into the open bag , took a handful of candies, said thanks and closed the door. We never got to know how irreparably he scarred the kid about Halloween but the next day when he innocently was sharing how a kid in his neighborhood brought him candies, some of us with a bit more awareness had to explain to him what he had done. So if this is your first Halloween, remember it is the adults that give out the treats and not vice versa :-).

Since mine is a vegetarian blog, I thought of wishing you all a happy Halloween with these really cute vegan witches, have a great evening :-)

Well, now the fact of Halloween is established, let us move on to more earthly matters, shall we? Ask me what I ate for dinner yesterday? Go on, and humor me, I promise it is worth it. Ok, assuming you asked the question, here is my answer - A bowl of yummy fenugreek seeds :-). Are you wondering if this is Halloween related and if you missed a memo, let me clear the air. What I ate on the eve of Halloween has nothing to do with Halloween itself though a bowl of fenugreek may sound somewhat like a ghoulish treat to enjoy.

If you haven't tasted this (I hadn't before I made it yesterday), making a subzi with fenugreek seeds may sound like a recipe to avoid. Indian cooking uses fenugreek seeds liberally, but they are mostly in quantities of Tsp at a time and as part of seasoning. The first time I stumbled on this recipe, I just flipped through the channel (Yep, it was on a You tube channel) ignoring it completely. Then again I love the bitterness of Methi/fenugreek and the flavor it imparts when roasted. Fresh green methi is my all time favorite too. So I went back to check the recipe. Since internet and the search engines are so smart and catch on to what your interests are based on your clicks, I got a couple other links to follow up on the same recipe. That is how I landed on the master chef's blog describing this succulent, delicious side dish. I had to give it a try after such a powerful endorsement, don't you agree?

So methi-papad sabzi (fenugreek seeds and lentil wafers side dish) is apparently a common preparation in Gujarat  and Rajasthan. The exact ingredients vary a little, yes as you can guess the Gujarati preparation will have a strong taste of jaggery that sweetens up the dish compared to its Rajasthani preparation. I stayed the middle course with a little bit of jaggery and the soaked and boiled fenugreek was a treat to eat as were the soft, soggy papad pieces in the subzi. Since this was my first time trying the dish, I made a simple cabbage stir fry which both BH and I love as my insurance incase the subzi was inedible but at the end of the dinner, the subzi pot was clean while cabbage sat there hardly touched :-). Such a successful experiment definitely is worth sharing on the blog, though the pictures aren't of great quality I decided to jump in with this one today. I will update them when I make the recipe again (soon).

Before we go onto the recipe, quick update on where I have been (other than the above stated reasons) - went to visit DD for a a quick weekend, time differences, overnight travel and an already hectic work week left us really tired but extremely contented to be able to hug the little one after 2 solid months. For her part, she checked in with us to the hotel room for the weekend and was happy to devour the gulab jamoons and other goodies we had carried with us. She has settled in, misses us and home but has made friends and is enjoying her classes and other activities. Looking forward to having her home in another 4 weeks or so :-)

Back to the recipe, this is a really simple one to make as long as you remember to soak the fenugreek seeds overnight. Once the soaking part is taken care of, the rest of the process is a breeze.

What do you need to make methi-papad subzi?
1/2 cup fenugreek seeds/methi dana
2-3 regular size papads**
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1-2 pieces of 1 inch cinnamon
1/2 Tsp mustard seeds
1/4 Tsp cumin seeds
1/8 Tsp asafoetida
2 green chilies, finely chopped (deseed them if you prefer mild)
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1/2 Tsp coriander seeds powder
1/2 Tsp tamarind paste or about 10 kokum pieces
small piece (1/2 Tsp) of jaggery
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

How do you make Methi-papad subzi? 

• Wash fenugreek seeds in water and soak them in atleast 2 times volume of water overnight. 
• Drain all the water and pour the seeds into a sauce pan. Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt and bring it to a rolling boil. 

• Switch off and keep aside. 
• Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon, mustard, cumin seeds and let them crackle. 
• Add chopped green chilies, asafoetida and onion and saute for a couple of minutes until onion is soft. 

• Drain the water from the cooked fenugreek, reserve the water and pour the cooked seeds into the pan with onion. 
• Roast them for a minute and half, add red chili powder, coriander powder and salt and mix well. 
• Add the reserved water, jaggery, half of chopped cilantro and kokum pieces. If you are using tamarind paste instead add it at this time. 

• Let kokum soften and give out tartness, it will take about 8-10 minutes of boiling on medium heat. 
• If the water starts to evaporate, add another half cup. 
• Taste test and adjust red chili powder, salt or jaggery to taste. 
• Tear or break the papad (yes they are not roasted or fried) into pieces, keep them atleast 2X2 inches in dimension so they don't dissolve. 

• Let cook for 2 minutes, switch off and add the remaining cilantro on top. 
• Let it stand for 10 minutes and serve topped with crunchy, fried papads crushed. 

** Papads are traditional Indian lentil wafers that are usually circular and sun dried. You get different varieties of it in Indian grocery stores. I used my moong dal papad which was in stock but any papad would work too. The texture of cooked papad is that of thin pasta. 

Notes: 

• I started with kokum pieces alone but as it was not tart enough used a small bit of tamarind paste. Adjust the sourness to taste as this helps mellow down the bitterness of fenugreek also. 
• Be stingy with salt in this recipe since all papads have a load of salt in them already. If you want to add extra salt, hold until the end and papads have been added. 
• Jaggery is your preference, increase or decrease as you like. 
• You can use a chopped tomato in addition to onion, adjust kokum or tamarind quantity if the tomatoes are sour too.
• Adjust the consistency of the dish based on usage and your preference, mine was moist and semi solid with not much of water. It was great to pick it up with rotis and eat. 

Baati & Dal - A Sunday brunch special with the colors of Rajasthan

Hope everyone had a great weekend and getting back to the routine of the week days. School is out for a Spring break week which officially stamps the change of seasons. Winter is on its way out and Spring is showing its colors, the color burst looks gorgeous all around. We had some rains last week during the day and there was a bright, big rainbow across the sky, had never seen anything like that before, it was simply breathtaking. We stopped and got out of the car multiple times on the way just to enjoy the sight and breathe in the smell of the first rains. Without the dry, parched soil it doesn't smell like the Indian summer rains I remember but it was very calming and joyous all the same.

A few of months back, we had a group of BH's colleagues home for dinner and as everyone was enjoying the food, I was talking to one of the guys who is from Udaipur in Rajasthan. He loved my preparations and extended an invitation to come visit his family in Udaipur. The conversation turned towards Rajasthani delicacies and I told him we enjoyed dal-baati very much which apparently is a staple food in Rajasthan. While I mentioned how I baked them in the oven, he said that his mom first steams them and then bakes them to make them lighter and softer. Until then I thought baatis were hard baked bread. One day, as I was flipping through the pages of my '660 curries' by Raghavan Iyer, I came across the recipe for Baati and was pleasantly surprised to find him say baatis were steamed and then baked in the oven, it was sort of a validation. Most recipes found online ask you to bake them directly in the oven and this is how it is generally made. But steaming before baking not only gives them a wonderful shine on the outside but also makes them flakier and lighter with the same amount of oil/ghee. I have some pictures to show you the texture difference between the two methods and you have to take my word on the taste difference :-). These baatis when dunked in hot dal do not miss the ghee at all.

The first time I made baati and dal at home, I served dal on the side and kept the baati in the center of the plate. BH looked quizzically at me as if to ask how he was supposed to eat it. We broke the baatis, dipped them in the dal and took a bite, it was good but not magical or exotic like dal-baatis are made out to be, it felt like eating a really thick roti piece with dal :-). BH went ahead and poured dal all over the baati pieces to soak them further and ate them like idli-sambar :-). When I was searching the blogosphere, I found this link where they serve a jazzed up version of dal-baati. The chat lover that I am, it helped me fall in love with this every day food from Rajasthan and there was no looking back after that. We ended up spooning generous amounts of dal on top of baati pieces, garnishing the mixture with some chopped onions and cilantro on top. That is exactly how we eat this delicious combination every time I make them at home now. This might make traditional foodies from Rajasthan cringe a bit but as the saying goes in Kannada "Oota tanniche, nota pararicche (~ eating preferences should be to please your own self, ..), we continue to eat the hearty dal-baati served as a chat.

Traditionally, baati is served with panchmel dal (a lentil stew made with 5 dals) and the type of lentils and proportions vary vastly from region to region. Here is how I make it, though may not get a stamp of authenticity, it can hold very well on the taste with any authentic dal preparation. I go very light on the dry masala powders but give a vibrant color and flavor with the final tadka (seasoning) which knocks you out of this world especially if you are serving this as a chat.

I made a delicious dal-baati combination for brunch today and we enjoyed this healthy, nutritious and very filling meal on a lazy Sunday.

I have never been to Rajasthan, have only read about this great desert land nestled in the west of India. Like many of us, I have a bucket list of things to do and places to visit before my time is up :-). Visiting Rajasthan's desert definitely tops my list. If you are like me and have not yet visited Rajasthan, I recommend you watch this beautiful movie called 'Lamhe'. From the very first scenes of Waheeda Rehman ordering a very young looking Anil Kapoor to 'Matha Theko (prostrate and get blessings from the land)' to the final scene where the gorgeous Sridevi stands in a moonlit palace and tells a prem kahani (love story) to a group of village folks, the movie drips (just like the ghee from the baati) of the essence of Rajasthan for me. It has remained one of my favorite movies to date, I wonder why it was not well received :-(. Here is a beautiful Sridevi dancing gracefully to a folk inspired tune in Lamhe, enjoy the song while eating a bowl of baati-dal and if you like it, go ahead and get the full movie to watch. It is a visual treat!

I had a bunch of freshly picked and cleaned fenugreek leaves, I chopped some up and added it to the baati dough which made it very flavorful. You can add dry fenigreek leaves (kasoori methi) or other flavoring agents (see notes) or make baatis plain.

Baati in the foreground is baked directly, one in the background is steamed and then baked

What do you need to make Baati? 
Makes 12-14 baatis
2 cups wheat flour
1/4 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp salt
2 green chilies minced
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh fenugreek leaves (optional but recommended)
1/4 Tsp crushed ajwain
1/4 cup Tbsp yogurt
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp water

How do you make Baati?

• Sieve wheat flour, soda and salt together to remove any lumps.
• Add oil, minced chilies, crushed ajwain, chopped fenugreek and mix it to crumbles. 

• Add yogurt and bring the dough together. 
• Add water slowly to make a stiff dough, keep kneading as you mix and stop at a hard dough consistency. 

• Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
• Pre-heat oven to 350F. 
• After the resting period, knead the dough for a couple of minutes to give it a smooth surface, break off golf sized pieces from the dough.
• Roll them into smooth balls. 

• I have a steamer container in my rice cooker which has holes all over so the steam from the hot water below steams the baatis on top. You can use any steamer you have or steam it in pressure cooker (without the weight) like you do for idlis. 
• Set the balls with an inch of space in between and steam them for 10 minutes. 
• Move the steamed baatis to the pre heated oven in the center rack (use a pizza stone if you have or a baking sheet). 

• Bake them for a total of 18-20 minutes, turning each baati over after 10 minutes until they turn light brown. 

What do you need to make Panchmel Dal for the Baati?

1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup husked moong dal (dhuli hui-yellow colored)
1/4 cup green split moong dal or masoor dal
1/4 cup chana dal
1 Tsp urad dal
1 inch piece of ginger - peeled and julienned into thin strips
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
1/2 Tsp garam masala powder
1/4 Tsp coriander powder
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 Tsp red chili powder
1/4 Tsp asafoetida
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
2.5 Tbsp oil - divided use
1/2 Tsp ghee
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

How do you make Panchmel Dal? 

• Wash and soak dals for 30-45 mins, this will help cook it faster and better. 
• Rinse and drain the water.
• Take it to the pressure cooker along with ginger and bay leaf.
• Add 1.5 cups of water, 1/2 Tsp salt and pressure cook for 2 whistles or until dals are soft and mushy. Let it cool.

• Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a pan, add cumin and let sizzle.
• Add the minced onion and fry for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until onion becomes soft.
• Add the pureed tomato and turmeric powder and continue to cook for 5-6 minutes. Tomato loses the raw flavor and oil starts to show up on the sides of the pan.
• Add garam masala and coriander powder, mix it well.

• Add the cooked dal, adjust water to the desired consistency. Make it pouring consistency for use with baatis. 
• Let it come to a good boil (4-6 minutes).
• Add chopped cilantro and lemon juice and switch off.
• Heat a pan with remaining oil and ghee on low heat.
• Add asafoetida, red chili powder and heat it through, do not let it burn.

• Pour this over the dal, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes so the flavor is infused before serving.

Serving Baati-Dal: 

• Break hot baatis into bite sized pieces in a bowl.
• Drizzle a couple of drops of ghee on top if you desire. 
• Pour dal all over the baati pieces.
• Garnish with finely chopped onions and cilantro. 
• Eat while it is hot. 

Notes: 

• Baati flavors - minced ginger, crushed saunf, kasoori methi etc
• Some recipes call for adding 1 Tbsp of chick pea flour or sooji per cup of whole wheat flour for flavor and texture, I do not do this but if you want to try, go ahead. 
• Traditionally, baati is taken out of the oven and dunked in a pot of melted ghee. Once it soaks up the ghee, it is served with dal. I have just reduced the number of calories in my recipe a little bit (or by a huge margin :-))