Make Dalia
Dalia is a delicious dish that also happens to be really good for you. In India, those suffering from illness are fed Dalia because of its health benefits. But you don't need to be sick to enjoy this tasty dish. Chop up some veggies and you will have yourself the perfect dinner.
Contents
Ingredients
- 1 cup crushed wheat
- 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1/2 cup shelled peas
- Salt
Steps
Readying the Ingredients
- Know what Dalia is. Dalia is the Hindi word for broken cereals. This is dish in particular is made with broken wheat. Dalia is low in cholesterol and fat, and is a good source of carbs, iron and fiber. This dish has a porridge-like texture.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil or ghee in a pressure cooker. When the oil gets hot, add one teaspoon of cumin seeds. Let the cumin splutter in the oil. Listen for the cumin seeds to start crackling before you continue—the cracking signifies that they are releasing their flavor.
- If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can try cooking dalia in a large pan. Follow the same steps as you would with a pressure cooker, adding the oil and then the cumin seeds.
- Chop your vegetables. If you are making dalia with vegetables, now is the time to rinse and prepare your veggies. Standard (and tasty) additions to dalia include onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and peas. Make sure you rinse your veggies before you use them.
- Chop one medium sized tomato and one medium sized onion.
- Peel and chop a half cup of carrots. Wash and chop a half cup of potatoes.
- Shell a half cup of peas (or you can buy pre-shelled frozen peas).
- Add the chopped onion to the hot oil and cumin seeds. Sauté the onion until it becomes clear. To add flavor, you can sauté the onion with one pinch of chopped ginger and one or two chopped green chilies.
- Add the other chopped vegetables to the pressure cooker. When the onion has become clear, sauté the vegetables for roughly two minutes, stirring constantly.
Cooking the Dalia
- Rinse the dalia. Like rice, dalia is best if it is rinsed before cooking. Add one cup of rinsed dalia to the pressure cooker and sauté with the vegetables for three or four minutes. Make sure that you are stirring constantly so that the dalia does not stick to the inside of the pressure cooker.
- You can also dry roast the dalia in a separate pan before you add it to the pressure cooker.
- Add four cups of water to the pressure cooker. Stir all of the ingredients together and add as much salt as you like (this is based on personal preference).
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook the dalia for 10 to 12 whistles or until it has developed a porridge-like consistency. If you open the lid and notice that your dalia does not look fully cooked, add a bit more water and continue to pressure cook for several more whistles.
- If your dalia is looking undercooked, you can also add water and continue to cook it with the top of the pressure cooker off until the dalia becomes soft.
- Pour the dalia into bowls for serving. It should be served hot. Garnish your dish with a couple coriander leaves. Enjoy!
- Finished.
Tips
- You can also add mung bean to your dalia dish.
