Dal Bafla

Dal Bafla is a wonderful dish that is similar to Dal Baati. The very first time I ate it was in Indore at my Aunt's house. The baflas were cooked in a traditional kiln and served submerged in a bowl of ghee with piping hot dal. Absolutely delicious! I ate this over 15 years ago, but still remember the experience vividly. At that time I didn't realize that Dal Bafla and Dal Baati were two individual dishes. I have heard both names often over the years, but only knew how to make Dal Baati so far.

To make baatis, I usually add baking soda and yogurt to soften them up a little. If you skip that then they turn out really hard. The best part about the bafla is that it is soft from inside and crisp from outside, so it is very easy to eat it. It is soft because it is boiled first and then baked.

It was just recently that I came across the recipe on a food group. I had to try it out immediately to see what the differences between the baati and bafla are. The dal I made along with this was also different than what I make for baatis. Once  you have bafla or baati ready, you can use any dal preparation with it.  I have included the dal recipe that I made along with the bafla as well. It is a very delicious preparation that you can also use with rice or rotis.

I am sure you will love this variation once you eat it.

Ingredients
For Bafla
3 cups of wheat flour (used the same flour that I use for chapatis)
½ cup semolina/rava
½ cup oil
salt to taste (approx. 1 tsp in the dough and 1 tsp to add in the water)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp oil
ghee

For Dal
2 cups cooked chana dal
¼ cup cooked tur dal
1.5 onions, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
5-10 curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
pinch of hing
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish

Method 
For the bafla
Mix together the semolina, flour and salt till the ingredients are well mixed. Then added oil and rub it into the flour. Add water, a little at a time till it comes together as a dough. Knead it a little. It is on the drier and hard side. Let it rest for 10-15 mins. (The dough was very hard and tended to crack when rolling the baflas. I think I could have added another tablespoon of water to have smoother baflas.)
Take about a fistful of dough and make round balls and then press slightly to flatten them a little.


In a deep pot, added water, turmeric, oil and salt and let it come to a rolling boil. Then add the dough balls to this water. They will sink. Stir them around occasionally as they cook, till they become lighter and float a little. Cook on medium heat. It takes about 10-15 mins.
To eat, crush the baflas in a bowl, add ghee to these and then pour dal over the baflas. Enjoy hot!

Keep a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F while the baflas cook in water. Remove baflas, dry them with a cloth and put it on the hot pizza stone and let them cook for about 20-25 mins, turning them over a couple of times till they are crisp on the outside. Retain the water that the baflas have been cooked in to use in the dal.

Once baked, remove them from the oven and keep warm in a casserole till ready to heat. The traditional way is to immerse the warm bafla in ghee after creating a little crack in it so that the ghee is able to permeate the bafla. I didn’t do this as I wanted to control the amount of ghee that was in each serving.

For the dal
Heat oil in a saucepan, add mustard and cumin seeds. Then add the hing, and curry leaves. Then add onions, ginger and garlic. Cook the onions well and then add the chopped tomatoes. Once these are cooked, add the cumin, coriander and chili powders and mix well. Then add the cooked tur and chana dals. Mix well, then add salt and the water saved from cooking the baflas till the desired consistency of the dal is achieved. Boil this till well cooked. Garnish with cilantro.

Tips
If you don't have a pizza stone, use a baking sheet to bake these. If you don't want the yellowish tinge to the bafla, don't add the turmeric to the boiling water.

Daal Baati (Dal Bati) - Recipe for the dal

For information related to Dal Baati and the recipe to make Baati, see my previous post. The dal for the dal baati recipe is unique because it is made using urad dal. While I know that urad dal is a key component of idli and dosa batters, I haven't really seen it used as a main ingredient in too many dal recipe. The freshly baked, ghee dipped baati, is broken down into small pieces in a bowl and then piping hot dal is poured over it. The result is absolutely lip smacking. If you make this dish often, it is best to cut back on the amount of ghee that is used after the baking process to prevent those calories from adding up. But it is absolutely okay to indulge once in a while!

Ingredients
1 cup urad dal
4 tbsp split mung (yellow mung) dal
3 tbsp chana dal (yellow split pea)
3 cups water
a pinch of asafoetida powder
2 tbsp ghee or oil
1/8 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
2 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
2 bay leaves (tej patta)
1 inch cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 inch ginger, finely grated or ground
1/2 cup red onion diced
2 tomatoes diced
1-2 green chillies
red chilli powder to taste
salt to taste
1 tsp dhania (corriander) powder
1 tsp garam masala (optional)
1/8 tsp turmeric
additional water to thin out the dal
cilantro/corriander leaves, chopped for garnishing

Method
Mix the three dals together and add water to it. Add asafoetida and cook. See tips on alternatives of cooking dals. The dal mixture should be cooked through and soft. In a large, deep pan, heat the oil or ghee. To this add jeera, black cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaves. Cook these till you can smell the spices. Take care to prevent them from burning. Then add the green chilli, onion, ginger and garlic. Cook these till you do not get the raw garlic smell. The onion should be at the slightly browning phase. Then add the tomato and cook till the tomatoes are cooked through. Then add the turmeric, dhania powder and garam masala. If you want the dal to be spicy, you can add red chilli powder at this stage. Cook the spices for a couple of minutes and then add the cooked dal mixture. Add some water to thin it out a bit. The consistency should not be too watery. It should be like a thick soup. Turn off the heat when the dal boils. Garnish with chopped cilantro/corriander leaves.

Tips
The fastest method to cook dals is using a pressure cooker.  If using a stove top cooker, cook it for 5 or 6 whistles and if using the Instant Pot, 12 mins on manual mode, at high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally. However, if you do not have a pressure cooker, pre-soak the dal in warm water for a couple of hours. Then add water to the soaked dal and cook till soft. If spices being friend initially burn, it is best to start again with fresh oil. Burnt spices add a bitter taste and can potentially alter the taste of the entire dish. The list of ingredients may look daunting, but most of these should be easily available in your Indian grocery store.