Dalia Recipe (Daliya in 2 ways)

Make Dalia Recipe in 2 ways – savory or sweet, to your preference. Dalia is simply cracked wheat – meaning broken wheat, made from the whole wheat grain. It is a staple in many Indian homes and is often used to make khichdi, porridge, upma, pongal and pulao. Since it is minimally processed, keeping most of the bran intact, dalia is considered nourishing and filling.

While daliya is the Hindi name for broken wheat, it is also known as fada (in Gujarati), samba rava or godhuma rava in South India. It is mostly used in South Indian kitchens to make upma and pongal. In Gujarati cuisine it is used to make lapsi and khichdi. In this post I share 2 recipes to make the dalia khichdi & sweet daliya.

The first recipe is made much the same way as the traditional rice khichdi using lentils, spices and quick cook veggies. The second recipe is a sweet one made with milk, jaggery, cardamom powder and an optional ingredient – moong dal. At home I cook with this grain a lot not only because it is filling but it is also easier to make. I can say, a well-made daliya tastes better than any other grain.

Both these – savory and sweet versions can be had anytime of the day for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sometimes when the cravings kick-in for a sweet dish I make the sweet version without guilt because it uses jaggery. For a protein boost I also add a little moong dal which also adds a great texture.

In North India, dalia is mostly eaten during winters & monsoon as wheat helps to keep the body warm. However it makes a great food to enjoy through out the year. It makes a great food even for toddlers. Both my boys have grown up enjoying it. I have also shared a recipe for babies and toddlers at the end of this post.

I have included the instructions to make in a regular pot, pressure cooker & Instant pot.

More Khichdi recipes
Dal khichdi recipe
Oats khichdi
Sabudana khichdi

Photo Guide

Step by Step Photos Instructions

1. Rinse ¼ cup dalia and ¼ cup moong dal thrice. Soak them for at least 30 mins. If you are using the large size broken wheat, I suggest soaking for at least an hour. You can also dry roast dal and daliya first separately, then cool down and rinse.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee or oil in a cooker on a medium to low heat. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. When they begin to splutter, add a pinch of hing and 1 teaspoon grated ginger. You can also add bay leaf if you like the flavor.

3. Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes, 1 slit green chili (optional), ¼ teaspoon turmeric and ½ teaspoon salt. Saute until the tomatoes turn soft. If using onions, saute onions first until slightly golden, then add tomatoes. You can also skip tomatoes and just use onions.

4. Add ½ teaspoon red chili powder and saute just for a min. You can omit chili powder if using green chili or cut down the powder if making for kids. You can also add ¼ teaspoon garam masala if you like.

5. Add ½ to 1 cup mix veggies like carrots, green beans or peas. I had only capsicum so used that. Saute for 2 to 3 mins.

6. Drain off the water completely from the broken wheat and dal. Add it to the cooker.

7. Saute on a medium high heat for about 2 to 3 mins.

8. Pour 2 cups water, mix well and taste test to adjust salt.

9. Cover and pressure cook on a medium to low flame for 2 whistles. Off the stove and leave it on the stove for a while. When the pressure drops, open the lid and stir. If you want stir in lemon juice and add black pepper.

To cook in the instant pot, set to porridge mode and set the timer to 14 mins. Alternately set to pressure cook mode and timer to 12 mins.

Serve Daliya hot with pickle or papad.

Recipe 2 – Sweet dalia recipe

I also have the Instant pot instructions below.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee
• ½ cup daliya
• 2 tablespoons moong dal (optional)
• ½ cup grated jaggery or 3 to 4 tbsps sugar
• ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
• 2 cups water (1 ½ cups for Instant pot)
• 1 ½ cups milk (can use almond milk)
• 8 cashewnuts split or chopped
• 15 sweet raisins

Preparation

1. This recipe is healthy if you use jaggery. There are 2 ways you can use them here. One is to add it directly to the slightly cooled dalia. The other way is to dissolve it first and boil for a few minutes. Then cool it completely, filter and stir it with your cooked sweet dalia.
2. If your jaggery is not clean then, you have to melt it first with 3 tbsps of water, bring it to a good boil and cool completely. Set aside and use it later at the last step. Adding hot jiggery to hot dalia will split the milk or curdle it. So ensure it is cooled completely before adding.
3. Add ½ cup dalia and 2 tablespoons moong dal (optional) to a bowl and rinse them very well a few times. Drain the water completely and keep aside.

How to make sweet dalia (stovetop)

1. Pour 2 tbsps ghee to a pot and heat it. Add 8 split cashews and fry until golden. Stir in 15 raisins too. When they turn plumpy, remove all of these to a plate. Set aside.

2. To the same pot, add drained daliya and moong dal.

3. Saute and fry until dalia turns golden and aromatic. Keep stirring to avoid burning or browning the dalia.

4. When you begin to get a nice smell, pour 2 cups water and bring it to a boil. To quicken this process, you can also pour hot water to the dalia.

5. Give a good mix. Cover and cook on a low to medium heat until all the water is absorbed and dalia is soft cooked.

6. It will absorb all the water.

7. Pour 1 ½ cups of milk and give a good stir. Mix well and cook until the dalia turns slightly thicker yet is of pouring consistency.

8. When it reaches a desired consistency, add cardamom powder. If using sugar, add it as well and give a good mix until it dissolves. Turn off the stove. To know the consistency, you may check the video above in the recipe card.

If using jaggery, remove the pot from the stove and cool down a bit, then stir in the jaggery. I used jaggery here.

Add cashews and raisins. Serve sweet dalia warm.

Sweet daliya in Instant pot

1. Press SAUTE button on the Instant pot and pour 2 tablespoons ghee to the steel insert.
2. Fry 10 split cashews until light golden and stir in 15 sweet raisins. Quickly the raisins will become plump. Immediately remove them.
3. Add half cup rinsed dalia and 2 tbsps moong dal. Saute for 2 mins.
4. Then pour 1 ½ cups water and 1 ½ cups milk.
5. Deglaze the pot by scrubbing the bottom with a wooden spatula.
6. Press CANCEL button. Secure the Instant pot with the lid and position the steam release handle to sealing.
7. Press PORRIDGE button & set the timer to 12 mins. If you use the larger cuts of dalia then it takes upto 16 mins.
8. When the pressure release naturally give a good stir and cook on saute mode for a few minutes to bring it to the consistency you desire.
9. Add cardamom powder and sugar.
10. If using jaggery, remove the inner pot out and cool down for a while.
11. Stir in the grated jaggery or cooled jaggery syrup. Serve sweet dalia hot.

Notes: I have tested this recipe in a 6 QT instant pot with the above mentioned quantities of water and milk. You can also skip the dal from the recipe. Using only milk may give a burn notice.

Tips (savory version – dalia khichdi)

Lentils: I prefer to use some moong dal to make dalia. Apart from adding some protein, it also gives a better texture & flavour to the dish. You may substitute moong dal with red lentils (masoor dal), toor dal or even pancharatan dal.

Veggies: You can use veggies like tomatoes, peas, carrots, beans, potatoes and bell peppers. You can also use any one of the veggies too. If you do not have any veggies, you can also just make it with dalia, moong dal and spices. Just squeeze in some lemon juice while serving.

Spices: Apart from cumin, chili powder and ginger I haven’t used any spices but still it tastes delicious. However you can also add more whole spices like bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamoms. Alternately you may also add some garam masala. But I really don’t feel the need.

Consistency: For a runny, porridge like consistency you may add more water.

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

This post was first published in November 2015, Republished in June 2020

Dalia recipe for babies

I had few requests for a good dalia recipe for babies, so sharing it. My kids refused to eat dalia until they completed 2 years, the reason – the texture was not liked as it is not very smooth like the mashed rice.

When they turned 2, i started to pressure cook dalia and moong dal together with veggies. Then season with ghee, ginger, hing, turmeric and pepper cumin.

Over the years, the recipe under went so many changes and now i make it the way i described above in step by step pictures. Here are the proportions i used to make for them. Do try and share if your little one likes it.

The below quantity makes dalia khichdi good enough for the mum and toddler. For babies under 18 months, i do not suggest feeding this for dinner.

Avoid feeding this late in the night after 7.30 pm even to normal babies. Moong dal is not suitable to some babies during winters, so you can try with toor dal. Avoid using potatoes, tomatoes if your baby has colic.

Ingredients for dalia

• ¼ cup broken wheat
• ¼ cup moong dal or toor dal (can reduce to 2 tbsp)
• 2 cups of water
• ¼ to ½ cup veggies

for seasoning

• ghee 1 tbsp
• cumin or jeera powder as needed
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• pinch of turmeric
• pepper powder/ajwain (avoid in summer)

Steps

• You can dry roast dal and dalia separately in large quantity. Cool them and store in steel or glass jars. This step is optional but lends a good aroma.
• Soak them together for at least 1 hour. If your baby has colic i suggest soaking for 2 hours. Soaking helps to cook the dalia soft and baby will like the texture. It also helps to digest better.
• Drain off the dal and dalia. Add 2 cups fresh water and pressure cook on medium to low flame for 2 whistles.
• When you open the lid, you will find it gooey. The texture we often feed the babies. If you like to mash it further, you can. But for 2 whistles mine gets cooked very soft.
• Add salt and stir. You can skip the seasoning and add turmeric, ghee, cumin directly to the cooked dalia. Feed when it comes down to warm temperature. During winters you can also add a pinch of ajwain powder, dry ginger powder (saunt/sonti). Avoid if baby has constipation.
• I used to feed my toddlers without seasoning. You can make seasoning to the mum’s portion of dalia khichdi.