Dal Baati Churma

In a Marwari courtyard the baati come out of the fire grey with ash, and someone knocks them together to clean them. They are split with a thumb, dunked whole into a bowl of hot ghee, and lifted out dripping. The dal goes over the top. On the side of the thali sits a mound of churma, coarse and sweet, so you can go from spicy to sweet and back with every few bites. It is a heavy lunch and it is meant to be. Nobody does much after it.

Ghee runs through all three parts. Gir Cow's A2 Ghee goes into the baati dough as moyan, which is what makes them crumble instead of turning into rocks, and then a bowl of melted ghee waits at the end for dunking. In the churma, the ghee holds the crushed baati together. The churma is sweetened with Organic Jaggery, which is what Rajasthani homes actually use, and it gives a darker, deeper sweetness than sugar.

The rule: the baati dough must be stiff and short. Rub the ghee in until a squeezed handful holds its shape, then add water sparingly. Soft dough gives smooth baati that never crack and stay doughy inside. You want a rough surface that splits open on top as it bakes.

How to make it

1. Mix the atta, sooji, ajwain, baking powder and salt. Pour in 1/2 cup ghee and rub it through for 3 minutes. Squeeze a fistful: it must hold together in a lump. Add water little by little to make a stiff, tight dough, firmer than poori dough. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
2. Rinse all five dals together, soak 30 minutes, then pressure cook with 3 cups water, the turmeric and 1 tsp salt for 4 to 5 whistles. They should be soft but not broken down to paste.
3. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll each smooth between your palms, then flatten it slightly and press a shallow cross into the top with your thumb. Bake at 200C for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once at the halfway point, until they are dark golden and cracked open on top and sound hollow when tapped.
4. For the dal tadka, heat 3 tbsp ghee. Add the mustard and cumin seeds, cloves, bay leaf and hing, then the dried chillies and ginger. Fry 30 seconds. Add the tomato and cook 4 minutes until soft, then the coriander powder and chilli powder.
5. Pour in the cooked dal with 1 cup hot water. Simmer 10 minutes on low until it is loose and pourable, not thick. Finish with garam masala, salt, lemon juice and coriander leaves.
6. Set aside 4 baked baati for the churma. Break the rest in half with your hands, or press them under a rolling pin, and dunk each half in the bowl of melted ghee for a few seconds.
7. For the churma, break the 4 reserved baati roughly and pulse them in a mixer to a coarse crumb, like breadcrumbs, not powder. Roast the crumb in 3 tbsp ghee on low for 6 to 7 minutes until it darkens and smells toasted. Cool it completely.
8. Only when the crumb is cold, mix in the grated jaggery, cardamom powder and almonds, rubbing with your fingers until it is even. Warm crumb melts jaggery into a sticky lump.
9. Build a thali: ghee-soaked baati in the middle, a bowl of hot dal to pour over, churma on one side, with sliced onion, green chilli and garlic chutney.

Tips

• The oven is the home version. Traditionally baati are baked in the embers of cow dung cakes, which is where the smoky edge comes from. An oven at 200C gets you very close, and an appe pan on low for 15 minutes a side also works.
• Marwari homes leave out onion and garlic in the panchmel dal and lean on hing instead. Dhabas add both. Either is authentic, so cook the one your family recognises.
• Jaggery, not sugar, for churma. Grate it fine and mix it into cold crumb. If your jaggery is very soft, spread it on a plate for an hour first so it firms up.
• Storage: baati keep 3 days in a tin and revive in a hot oven for 6 minutes. Churma keeps a week in an airtight jar. The dal is best fresh but keeps 2 days.
• If your baati are hard as stones, the moyan was short. Half a cup of ghee to two cups of atta is not too much, it is the recipe.