Dal means lentil or legume soup, this particular one made with five kinds of lentils. Baati is a dumpling made with wheat flour, semolina, and lots of ghee (aka clarified butter). There is something magical about dal poured over baatis and eaten with more ghee!
So how are the baatis made? The good news is that these can be prepared a day or two ahead, and even frozen for future use. Just toast them up with ghee in the oven before serving.
- Mix 1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup semolina and salt to taste in a big bowl.
- Add 4 tbsp of hot melted ghee to the flour and mix it all up with hand. It should start to look and feel crumbly.
- Add water 1 tbsp at a time, and start kneading the dough. This dough should be stiff and tight (unlike pizza dough that’s stretchy).
- Knead well until the dough forms a soft but stiff ball. This is a great workout for your arms!
- Cover with a foil or wet cloth and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Bring to room temperature before making baatis.
- Cut the dough into small balls and shape each ball like a little crucible (see picture).
- Line them up in a baking pan and brush all sides generously with melted ghee.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the baatis for about 10 minute or until they start to turn golden brown.
- Then turn the baatis upside down and bake for another 10 minutes so.
- Serve hot with dal, or let them cool to room temperature and store in a metal container for later use.
Panchmel dal is made with 5 kinds of lentils. Here is my preferred proportion of dals – 1 cup each of chana, toor, masoor and moong dals, 1/4 cup of urad dal. You can premix and store the panchmel combo. Cook the desired quantity as needed, usually 1 cup of the mix for one use.
- Wash 1 cup of panchmel dal mix thoroughly, add 2.5 cups of water and let it soak for about 30 minutes.
- In the meanwhile, finely chop yellow onions, tomatoes, green chillies (or serrano peppers) and some cilantro for garnishing.
- We need 1 cup of chopped onions, 1/2 cup of tomatoes, 1 tsp of green chillies, 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste, 2 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp tava subji masala.
- Set the Instant Pot on saute mode for 7-8 minutes. Add more minutes if needed later.
- Add 2-3 tbsp melted ghee, onions, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies.
- Saute for a couple of minutes or until the onions start to change color.
- Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, masalas and salt to taste,.
- Saute for a minute or so and then add the chopped tomatoes.
- Keep sauteing until the tomatoes are cooked well and become mushy. The whole mix should look like a coarse paste.
- Add the soaked dal along with the water, adjust salt if needed and pressure cook for 20 minutes.
- When cooked, mix the dal well and garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Serve dal, hot baatis and extra melted ghee on the side as illustrated above.
- Crumble baatis in the dal, add a tsp of ghee on top and enjoy!
Cooking Time: Varies
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