Vegan Dal Bati Recipe

Indian cuisine is teeming with amazing bread sides that are capable of making an already delightful dish even better.

Naan is, of course, the most popular in the US, but there are a number of others, including kulcha, roti, parotta, poori, dosa, and – the bread of the hour – bati!

Native to the state of Rajasthan in northern India, bati is a delicious dumpling-style bread that goes down a treat with innumerable other dishes, but a nice, moist dal makes undoubtedly the best culinary combo, so that’s what we’ll be suggesting today.

Bati can be made in a few different ways, but for authenticity’s sake, we’re sticking to the traditional method with a vegan twist so you can get a true taste of Rajasthani cuisine!

Why You’re Going To Love This Dal Bati Recipe

Bread is one of the greatest foods known to man, and of its many forms, bati ranks in the top 10 at least, so there’s plenty to love about it, but below, you’ll find the main reasons to give this recipe a try.

• Long Shelf Life — Bati is most associated with the arid regions of Rajasthan and adjoining northern states, meaning two things… there is little water to be had, and food has to have a good shelf life.

Thankfully, these two need to cancel one another out during the bati cooking process, as the extremely low moisture content (combined with a high-fat content) grants this bread an extended shelf life.

While you may not live in the desert yourself, it’s always good knowing you don’t have to gobble up your food in a race against time that you can never truly win — You either put on a few pounds, or you waste your food.

• Rich flavors — Vegan butter is one of the principal components of bati, giving it a super rich flavor.
• Customizable — Traditional bati are prepared plain (with lots of vegan butter, of course), but there are a number of ways to spruce our recipe up. Some popular variations include stuffing bati with onions, sattu, or peas.
• Versatile — You don’t have to be eating an Indian feast to enjoy bati. This dumpling-esque bread goes well with a plethora of foods outside the boundaries of Indian cuisine.
• Unleavened — Don’t worry about getting a rise out of this bread, as it’s unleavened and formed into balls manually, making it super easy to bake.

Dal Bati — Ingredients

All you’ll need to give this bati recipe a shot is…

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups coarse whole wheat flour (you can use regular chapati atta as well)
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp vegan butter
• 7–8 tbsp water
• Salt (to taste)

… Pretty darn simple, right? But the results are astounding!

Dal Bati — A Step-By-Step Guide

Without further ado, let’s make some beautiful bati.

1. Sift your coarse whole wheat flour into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add salt and baking soda to the bowl.
3. Mix these three ingredients well.
4. Drizzle a generous amount of vegan butter into the bowl.
5. Wash your hands, then get stuck in, mixing the vegan butter into the dry ingredients.
6. You’re aiming for a breadcrumb texture. You’ll know it’s just right when it can be pressed into a fragile but steady ball.
7. Spilling only a very small amount of water at a time, knead your crumbed mix into a stiff dough.
   Bear in mind, you may need slightly more or less water depending on the type, quality, or freshness of the flour.
8. Dampen a kitchen cloth, cover the mixing bowl, and leave your dough to prove for about 20 minutes.
9. In the meantime, set your oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
10. Slice a sheet of baking parchment and place it ready on a baking tray. A cookie sheet will also work well.
11. When 20 minutes have passed, uncover your mixing bowl and inspect your dough. If everything is going to plan, you should see little white bubbles on the surface.
12. Knead your dough once more for about 2 minutes.
13. Split your dough into 12 equal portions. If you’d prefer smaller bati, make it 13 portions.
14. Pick up one of the portions and form a ball shape. You can roll a perfect ball between your palms if you like, but a quicker, rougher ball can be made simply by closing the dough in your fist and squeezing it lightly.
15. Without ruining the rounded shape, use one of your fingers to make a vertical indent in the dough.
16. Now make a horizontal indent, forming a “+”.
17. Repeat this process with the 11 or 12 remaining dough portions.
18. Arrange the dough balls on your baking tray so that they’re all equidistant from one another.
19. Bake them for 20 minutes.
20. Remove them from the oven, flip them so that the plus sign is facing the tray, then bake them for another 20 minutes.
21. When they take on a light brown color, they’re either done, or very nearly done. Break one apart to check if the middle is cooked.

If the inside seems a little raw, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.

22. You have a couple of options here. Traditionally, the whole bati is dunked in hot vegan butter, but as we mentioned earlier, it can be a bit much for first-timers.

Instead, you can just drizzle a small amount over your bati, or, alternatively, tear your bati up and drizzle some on the chunks.

23. Place whole or broken-up bati into a bowl, heat up some dal, and then ladle as much as you like on top. Some like to add some chopped onions on top as a finishing touch too, but it’s by no means essential.

What Dal Should I Serve With Bati?

You can serve whatever dal you like with your bati. We’re recommending panchmel dal here, as it’s a mixture of five different dals, creating a more intense and off-the-wall flavor profile, but if you have a favorite dal, feel free to stick with it.

Alternatively, forget the dal completely and serve your bati soaked in vegan butter. But be wary; all that vegan butter makes for an indulgent meal, and some might find it overwhelming.

Final Thoughts

One of the lesser-known Indian breads, bati is nonetheless delicious and a real treat with dal or innumerable other Indian and non-Indian dishes.

Traditionally, a lot of vegan butter is applied before serving, but don’t feel that you have to challenge yourself if you’re not used to such richness. Simply drizzle a bit on rather than saturate them, and you’ll likely find them much more palatable.

And once you’ve got this recipe down, feel free to branch out with your own ideas, such as various bati stuffings or different dal to go on top.