Masala Dalia (Spicy Wheat Porridge): An All-Time Meal
Masala Dalia or Spicy Wheat Porridge is a delicious, fibrous, nutritious, plus easy to prepare, and a digestive dish. It's good to start your day with a healthy breakfast. It's good for kids, young and elderly people. A wholesome breakfast for nursing mothers and pregnant women, it's really beneficial. It can be taken at breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, and at dinner too. It's actually an all-time meal. It's really a healthy, nutritive, and energy-giving dish. It has many benefits, weight loss is one of them, that I have discussed in this article.
Dalia is the main ingredient used in preparing Spicy Wheat porridge. Dalia is a broken or cracked whole wheat berry, used across India in various forms. Dalia is also referred to as Bulgar wheat. It is available in thick, medium, and thin versions. I have used the medium version. Before telling the recipe, I want to discuss the benefits of Dalia and why I preferred Dalia's recipe. Now, one by one I am telling you the benefits of eating Dalia.
Why Dalia should be preferred to wheat flour or brown rice?
- Nutritive: Dalia is crushed or broken wheat. It's not refined wheat and entirely different from refined wheat flour. It's better than wheat bread or Chapati, which is made up of ground wheat flour. Dalia contains wheat bran. It is the hard outer layer of the wheat berry, which contains the maximum nutrients. In wheat flour, maximum nutrients are removed from wheat while extracting flour.
- Prevents Obesity: Dalia is a great source of protein, vitamin B, and fiber plus a low-calorie food. It has very low fat. Its fiber content fills up space, brings satiety and protein provides low calories, but more energy for physical activity. Protein provides 4 kcal/g while fat provides 9 kcal/g. In this way, Dalia provides you energy but helps in losing weight and prevents obesity.
- Source of Vitamin B complex: Dalia is a rich source of vitamin B complex, especially, vitamin B1 called Thiamine, and vitamin B2 called Riboflavin. Vitamin B1 strengthens the immune system and also keeps the nervous system healthy. Vitamin B2 helps in the production of red blood cells and converting energy from carbohydrates, also good for skin and eyesight. So, Dalia is good to eat. Isn't it?
- Satiates Hunger: Since Dalia is rich in fiber, even, its fiber content is more than twice of brown rice and fiber takes a longer time in getting fully absorbed. Hence, it keeps you full for a longer time, satiates your hunger. So you can control your hunger pangs by eating fiber-enriched foods like Dalia. So, you will not feel hungry quickly.
- Relieves Constipation: Furthermore, the insoluble fiber content present in Dalia promotes good digestion. The insoluble fiber absorbs water, thus promoting the faster elimination of waste. Thus, Dalia relieves constipation and improves body functioning.
- Helps in controlling Diabetes: It has a low glycemic index, which is used to measure how much sugar is being converted from any particular food. A higher index indicates more sugar in the blood. Due to the low glycemic index, Dalia slows down the rate of blood glucose level which helps in controlling Diabetes.
- Good for hypertensive patients: Dalia is also a rich source of magnesium, helps in detoxifying the body, lowers the amount of sodium in the blood, which controls blood pressure from rising higher.
- Lowers Bad Cholesterol: Dalia contains soluble fiber too, which helps in lowering bad cholesterol or LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). Soluble fiber dissolves in water and turns into a gel-like substance inside the intestine and it binds to cholesterol in the intestine and promotes excretion.
- Boosts Breast Milk Supply in Lactating mothers: Dalia is good for nursing mothers. It can be given with steamed mung beans and other veggies, making it more nutritive and delicious, as I have mentioned in my recipe. It increases the quantity of breast milk.
So, I have mentioned many benefits. Now, I hope you will be interested in knowing the recipe. So, let us start. The wheat porridge recipe, I am going to tell you is light to eat and tasty. It can be taken with different vegetables like carrots, peas, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, capsicum, etc. Many chopped vegetables you can add, as per your choice, to enhance the taste. Here, I am using peas and carrots as the main veggies in my Wheat Porridge. So, let us start preparing our spicy and yummy Wheat Porridge.
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 2 cups Dalia, half-broken wheat
- 1 tablespoon clarified butter, (ghee) optional
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, Sunflower it's good, you can choose any other
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/4 cup green peas, prefer fresh, you can add frozen too
- 2 table spoon chilly-ginger-garlic patse
- 1/4 cup carrot, grated or finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon common salt, (or as required)
- 2 teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves, (kasuri methi)
- 2 table spoon lemon juice
- coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan ,then add Dalia (half broken wheat) and roast for 5 minutes or till it turns light brown. Then remove it from heat source. If you are calorie conscious you can dry roast the dalia avoiding ghee (clarified butter).
- Now, boil Dalia in a pressure cooker, with 4-5 cups water, till three whistles. It takes about 10 minutes, meanwhile you prepare your chilly, ginger, and garlic paste.Take out peas from the pod or you can choose frozen peas too. If you are using frozen peas then keep them aside till they attain room temperature. Chop the carrots or grate it.
- Now heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan, then add cumin seeds in hot. When seeds start to crackle, add green peas and cover the pan with a lid for a minute, so that spluttered peas may not come out of the pan. Meanwhile, you collect Dalia from pressure cooker in a separate container.
- Remove the lid and then add chilly, ginger and garlic paste to it, saute for a minute.
- Add chopped or grated carrots, whichever way you like, and saute them for two minutes.
- Add common salt as required, then add a teaspoon of garam-masala powder. You can avoid, it's optional. Stir them so that salt gets mixed thoroughly.
- Now its turn to add Dalia (broken wheat), add it, stir it, and mix well all the ingredients in the pan.
- Now sprinkle dry fenugreek (kasuri-methi) leaves to enhance taste.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Try Dalia with different tastes too
Here, I am giving you different variations for preparing Masala Dalia, besides above mentioned recipe. After preparing the dish .....
- If you like pomegranate seeds you can add it. It gives you a sweet and sour taste. I am sure you will like it.
OR
- You can add finely chopped onions, finely chopped baby tomatoes, with this add steamed grated sugar-beets, sprouted and steamed mung-beans ( green grams). Now, just sprinkle fruit spice. I am sure you will definitely like the taste. In this way, fruit spice with fruit salad imparts a different, delicious, and new flavour to the dish.
OR
- You can also add fresh curd with a pinch of roasted cumin powder, and a pinch of salt to the dish.
OR
- You can add grated fresh cheese too.
So, one by one you can try my Masala Dalia with different variations and every time you will get some new taste and that will be delicious too. So, you will never get bored with the same dish. So, a little variation is good in recipe. You can try Barley Porridge too using the same recipe.
Precautions while cooking Wheat Porridge
- Do not pan-roast the Dalia for longer than required, as the Dalia can taste bitter.
- Use spatula for stirring and stir frequently to prevent the Dalia from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Nutrition in cooked Dalia
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 100 grams | |
| Calories | 341 |
| Calories from Fat | 18 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 2 g | 3% |
| Saturated fat 0 g | |
| Unsaturated fat 0 g | |
| Carbohydrates 69 g | 23% |
| Sugar 0 g | |
| Fiber 3 g | 12% |
| Protein 12 g | 24% |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | |
| Sodium 76 mg | 3% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Spicy Wheat Porridge
More you eat dalia with roughage items such as fresh tomatoes, onions, carrots, sugar beets, reddish, sprouts, and steamed vegetables, more you will remain healthy and fit.
If you like my recipe and its benefits, try it. I will try my best for the next recipe. I am waiting for your precious comments. Have a nice time!
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2016 Sonal Shrivastava
