Lovely combos – Pithala Bhaat or Dal Chawal

What’s your go-to comfort food?

Most of the houses in Maharashtra, the Go to comfort food will be Pithala bhaat. That is curry made out of Chana Daal flour coupled with steam rice.

Health wise this is balanced diet consisting of proteins and carbohydrates. Normally the raw onion and raw green chilies add tanginess to the taste.

This is simple and quick to prepare. Liked by almost everyone in my state of Maharashtra. This is soothing, filling and satisfying food item. Easy on stomach and fast to digest.

This reminds me of my mother and grandmother. This was favourite recipe of the previous generations too.

Recipe for Pithale

Steam rice is easy to cook. Ensure that the rice is cooked well.

For making Pithale : Take Besan ( Chana dal flour ) and mix it well in water and the consistency should be semi thick.

You can cut the onions and green chilies and coriander leaves. Keep it aside.

Make the tadka with cold pressed or filtered groundnut oil and put green chilies and cut onions in the pan. Allow the onions to be little pinkish and then put the besan into the pan. Add the salt and turmeric and cut coriander into the mixture. Cook for about 10 mins.

And the delicious pithale is ready. I am not good at writing recipes but tried to explain the steps. Hope you understand the process.

Dal Chawal

Another comfort food for Indians is Dal Chawal or Dal Rice. This is again combination of protein and carbohydrates. Healthy and nutritious food popular across India.

This item also requires less time to prepare and liked by most people in Indian families. The dal or pulses variety may change depending on the region but the combination remains. This pair of food item is together for generations and still going strong ☺️

Few food items are closely linked to Hindu culture or traditions. The food item we offer to god on the occasion of any religious festival is Dal Chawal and the ghee. This is considered to be the Satvik food item. Dal can be simple yellow dal or combined with finely chopped vegetables and mildly cooked. This adds to taste as well as nutritional benefits.

To answer the prompt, my favourite go to comfort food is Pithala Bhaat or Dal Chawal. Everyone in my family loves this combination.

Have a great weekend and keep smiling 😊