The iconic dish of Rajasthan- dal baati churma. A lip-smacking combo, loaded with proteins, carbs and calories! Served here with spicy garlic chutney but can be also served with papads or tangy ‘kadhi’. This was lunch on day # 1 of my trip. A lunch like this leaves no room for dinner, despite it being shared among 5-6 people, all of whom wanted a taste.
The baati is a roll of unleavened wheat flour baked in a clay oven or over coals. It has a hard, crusty exterior and a soft doughy interior which is made even softer by being generously immersed in ghee. The dal is a mix of 5 lentils and spices which is used a topping for the baati or a concoction into which the ghee-soaked baati is crumbled before being scooped up and relished. The churma is the same unleavened flour of the baati which is slathered with ghee (what else) and served as a crumble mixed with nuts. Or gathered up and made into a laddu. Here it’s served as a churma (see the bowl top right)
Another dal baati churma thali was presented to us as lunch on day # 3 of the trip. A thali this sized with unlimited servings of dal/kadhi/chutney needed larger appetites and stronger digestions than we could boast of. Sadly, we limited ourselves to a few bites of each – every mouthful was scrumptious- knowing we would regret not having eaten more!
The baati is said to be the wartime food of the soldiers of Mewar. Before heading off to do battle, they would bury chunks of dough under the sand. When they returned in the evening, the heat of the desert sun would have baked the dough into baatis.
We did manage to take a quick video of the baatis being dunked in ghee before being placed on the thalis for serving. My mouth waters at the memory while my stomach says a firm ‘NO’. Maybe if I was 20 years younger
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