Low-calorie Rajasthani Dal Bati Churma recipe that uses very little oil/ghee making it more enjoyable and easy to digest too. The recipe comes with step by step photos and easy to follow instructions.

Traditionally, Dal Bati Churma is a delicacy of Rajasthani cuisine and is a very rich food in the sense that it is made with a lot of ghee. But times have changed and everyone is calorie-conscious. If you had been avoiding Dal Bati Churma as it's too heavy on digestion then try this. The otherwise heavy-duty Dal-Bati-Churma is made without excess oil in an air fryer which not only reduces the calories but makes the food tasty and with reduced efforts.

This is a Jain recipe, made without using any onion or garlic.

This is a long post as it has 3 recipes, so take it easy!

Daal Baati Churma is a simple yet very sumptuous dish. It's amazing to see how using the routine ingredients, wheat flour, semolina and lentils, such a different and yummy main course gets ready. Bati is even easier than making chapati as no fear of rolling it thin and round. Plus you are hands-free when the batis goes in the oven/air fryer.

 

Quarantine Fever On!

Day 3 of the lockdown due to coronavirus! Everybody is at home! No outings, no outside food, no office, no work. In such a situation, it becomes imperative for me to serve varieties in food so as not to add to the boredom. But resources are also limited. So, I try to twist the regular food only and try varieties using my pantry items only. Like, instead of dal and rice, make Dosa sambhar, Quesadillas or pizza in place of chapati and so on.

Every day, I am trying to make at least one meal that children would look forward to. Their list is long and so is the quarantine period. Let us see, how much I can cater to their demands.

Anyways, keeping in tune with their demands, I today made Rajasthan Special, Dal Bati Churma. And it was super liked by all three of them. Now, there's nothing new in this recipe as I have been making these since ages but the only thing is that today I made it after a long gap. I have made it umpteen times and it was very much in my list for my blog posts but somehow couldn't. So, when made today it was the perfect time to write the post also. You can easily make this using the regular flour and lentils in your kitchen. The best thing was that I made this heavy-duty food in a  low-calorie form and no change in taste.

Thanksgiving

As for the recipe, who can share it the best than anyone living in Rajasthan only? Therefore, years back, I too turned to my aunt (bua) Anju Jain, who lives in Jodhpur, for this recipe. Thus, this recipe comes directly from the horse's mouth!

As everybody is at home 24 hours without anything to do, so I am worried about their health too. And Bati and Churma, when fried gather so much fat. I chose this menu as I make everything in the air fryer only. In fact, Bati and Churma made in the air fryer is much better than that is deep-fried. The Churma is so light that you can easily eat without having any feeling of heaviness on the tummy.

As this recipe has 3 different recipes so I will discuss my views and method of each one of them one by one

 

What is Bati?

Before we see the method, what is meant by Bati?

Bati is a ball of dough that is either fried or cooked on firewood. For chapati, we roll the ball but when it is cooked as it is without rolling then it is called Bati. As it is thick dough only it is cooked on low flame so that it gets cooked properly from inside too. This is the reason, a lot of ghee is added to the flour while kneading it.

Once cooked, Bati is hard and cannot be cut with a spoon but it should be such that it can be easily crushed with hand.

 

How to Make 

A.  Dal 

There is no fixed Dal that goes with Bati. The most preferred one is mixed dal where 4 to 5 different lentils are mixed. Some people like to make it with just 2 lentils, Urad-Chana. Whereas, some others prefer only Urad dal. So, basically, urad dal is a must. I also make mixed dal and take 4 lentils, namely, Urad, Chana, Moong Chhilka and Arhar. This combination gives the best dal. I take all the dals in equal quantity but add Urad dal almost double. Like if all the 3 lentils are 1/4 cup each then I would take 1/2 cup Urad dal.

So, the ratio of lentils is:

Tuar dal: Chana Dal: Moong Chilka: Urad Dal

1     :         1        :             1            :        2

As mentioned earlier, this recipe of Dal is a Jain recipe and thus is made without any onion or garlic. This dal tastes best not only because of this awesome combination but because of tomatoes, ginger, green chillies and green coriander added to it. I strongly recommend you that do not make this dal in the absence of these.

 

B. Bati 

I make Bati with wheat flour and semolina. Traditionally, a lot of ghee is added to this flour mix so that it remains soft from inside once baked. But I have reduced ghee and replaced it with curd.

My Bati uses less ghee and no baking powder. I have never felt the need to use baking powder. It comes out well without it. While kneading,  just mix both the flours, ghee, curd and water and form a rough dough. Then cover it and leave it for half an hour or so. After half an hour, knead it again till I get a smooth dough. This resting time reduces  my efforts and improves the texture of the dough.

Ratio Of Wheat Flour And Semolina: I take the two flours in the given ratio

Wheat flour  : Semolina

2           :        1

 This means that for every 2 parts of wheat flour,  add 1 part semolina.

• Also, the semolina is of fine variety, which is also called Chiroti Rawa. If you have ordinary semolina then just grind it for 30 seconds or so and your fine semolina will be ready.
• I make 2 types of Bati, plain and stuffed, as my elder son eats only stuffed ones. For stuffing I use peas. Bati stuffed with peas taste more or less like Matar Kachori.
• And then, I make Bati in the air fryer. Alternatively, you can bake these in the oven or make these in appe pan also.

 

C. Churma 

• For making Churma, just take semolina, add ghee to it and knead into a dough. Do not keep the dough very tight initially.
• Keep this dough for at least half an hour. during this time the dough tightens as semolina swells.
• Take a little dough, press it between fingers and palm. Basically, make muthiya type.
• Put these in the air fryer for half an hour or till these get golden. Do not make these too thick else they will take longer to cook and also will remain uncooked from inside.
• Once cooked fully, let it cool down fully.
• When cooled, crush these roughly and put them in the grinder. Just 5 to 7 seconds in the grinder and you get a coarsely grounded semolina mixture.
• Add powdered sugar. That's it!
• You may add green cardamom powder, dry fruits etc, but we all prefer it plain only. The quantity of powdered sugar depends on your choice but ideally when added in the ratio of 2: 1, gives perfect sweetness. This means, measure the powdered semolina mixture and then add just half of this.

Grounded Semolina Mixture: Powdered Sugar

                        2             :             1

 

 

Serving Suggestions

The correct way to serve Dal Bati is to lightly crush the Batis and soak them in a bowl of melted ghee. And then these are eaten with Dal put on them. Some people like to mix in it Churma also. But that is a personal choice as to have savory and sweet together or not. If not, then Churma is eaten as a side dish or in the end like a sweet.

But nowadays, as everybody is diet conscious, so I serve melted ghee and Bati separately and people can have it according to their choice.

 

 

 Step By Step Photos

A. For Dal

• Take all 4 lentils. Wash and soak these for half an hour.

 

• Add salt, turmeric, green chilli, and water to rinsed dal and pressure cook it at medium-high flame.
• After the first whistle, lower the flame and turn off the flame after 3 to 4 minutes.

Tip: Do not overcook the lentils.

 

• In a kadhai, add ghee. Splutter, asafoetida, and cumin seeds. Saute ginger and green chillies. Add tomato puree. Cook till it leaves the sides.

 

• Add boiled dal. Add water, if need be. Boil it for a minute on high flame. Reduce the flame and cook for another 5 minutes.

 

• Add dried mango powder (amchoor powder), whole spice powder (garam masala) and lots of green coriander. Dal is ready.

B. For Churma

• Take semolina in a bowl. Add melted ghee and rub it all over the semolina.

 

• Knead it into a stiff dough using very little water at a time.

 

• Cover it and let it rest for half an hour.
• Knead again. Start preheating air fryer at 200 degrees.
• Divide the dough into 4 or 5 portions.
• Take a small portion and press it between your fingers and palm as shown below. Make 5 or 6 muthiyas like this.

 

• Keep this in the air fryer basket and air fry till it gets golden brown in colour.
• Let it cool down, crush it  and powder it coarsely in the grinder.

 

• Add powdered sugar, nuts and cardamom powder. Churma is ready.

Tip:  Add powdered sugar when the mixture has cooled down completely else it will get moist.

C. Make Stuffing for Bati

• In a pressure cooker, heat oil, splutter asafoetida and cumin seeds. Add peas and spices. Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

 

• Once cooked, ensure that it fully dry and no moisture is there as we need it for stuffing. In case there is moisture, cook it without lid till all the water evaporates.

D. For Making Bati 

• Take wheat flour, semolina, salt, ghee, and curd in a bowl. Rub everything together so that it looks like coarse sand. It should be able to hold shape when pressed between fist.

 

 

• Knead it to a soft and smooth dough.

Tip: Batis made with very tight dough turns very hard. So, do not keep the dough too tight.

 

• Leave the dough at least for half an hour after kneading.
• Take a small portion, roll it between palms and make a perfect round. Press it slightly. Put a dent using your thumb in the center or make a cross with a knife.

Tip: Do not make Batis too big in size else they may not get properly cooked from inside.

 

• Make all such Batis. For stuffed, ones, keep the stuffing in between and seal the edges like in stuffed parathas.

 

• Air fry these for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Take out and serve with ghee topped on these.
• Or cover these with a cloth if need to serve later.

 

FAQs 

Q) How to make Bati without an oven?

Instead of an oven, you can make it in the air fryer or even in Appe pan.

Q) Instead of mixed lentils, can I use anyone lentil?

Yes, you can also serve it with Urad Dal only.

Q) Can I add onion and garlic to Dal?

Of course, you can.

Related Recipes:

• Wheat Kulcha Without Yeast
• Pita Bread With Hummus

 

Let's Connect

I hope you have liked this method of making low-calorie Dal Bati Churma and will definitely give it a try. I would love to have your views regarding this.

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