Dahi Batakaદહીં બટાકા
Boiled potatoes folded into whisked curd with a light cumin tempering. Cooling, gentle on the stomach, and the easiest thing to eat on a hot fasting day.
Ingredients
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- 3 boiled potatoes, cubed
- 1½ cups whisked curd
- 1 tbsp ghee, cumin, 2 green chillies
- ¼ cup crushed roasted peanuts
- Rock salt, 1 tsp sugar
- Coriander and roasted cumin powder
Method
- Whisk the curd smooth and season with salt and sugar.
- Fold in the potato cubes and crushed peanuts.
- Crackle cumin and chillies in ghee and pour the tempering over.
- Dust with roasted cumin and scatter coriander.
- Chill briefly and serve cold.
Tips
- Use curd that isn't sour, or the dish tastes sharp.
- Let the potatoes cool before folding them in.
Storing and reheating
This is a curd dish, so it does not sit out, least of all in summer, where it starts souring within two or three hours. Covered in the fridge it keeps one day. The curd weeps as it stands, so fold it gently with a spoon before serving. It is not a dish you reheat; heat splits the curd. It tastes best if the crushed peanuts and the tempering go on at serving time.
What you can swap
- If your curd is thin, drain it in muslin for half an hour. Thick curd clings to the potato; thin curd just runs across the plate.
- Ordinary salt works in place of rock salt, but if this is for a fast day, stay with rock salt.
- Crushed roasted chana or toasted sesame can stand in for the peanuts. Many households do not allow chana on a fast, though, so keep peanuts on those days.
- Instead of green chillies, crackle two whole dried red chillies in the ghee. The tempering smells better and the heat stays gentler.
What to serve with it
On a fast day, particularly through Shravan, this is about the easiest thing to put together. Otherwise it goes on a summer thali, cold, beside hot thepla or puri. It also sits very comfortably next to plain khichdi.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not overboil the potatoes. Three or four whistles and they break up as you cut them, and the cubes turn to mush in the curd. Two whistles is enough; the knife should meet a little resistance.
- Whisk the curd smooth before the salt and sugar go in. Salt will not distribute evenly through lumpy curd, and you end up with one salty mouthful and one bland one.
- Do not fold the crushed peanuts in hours ahead. They pull water out of the curd, go soft, and you lose the crunch that makes the dish.
- Do not heat the ghee until it smokes. Truly boiling ghee hitting cold curd leaves the surface looking split. Take it off the flame as soon as the cumin crackles.
Questions people ask
Can dahi bataka be eaten on a fast?
Yes, many homes make it as farali food. The conditions are rock salt instead of table salt, no asafoetida or coriander-cumin powder, and peanuts rather than chana. Rules differ from family to family, so follow what your household keeps.
What if the curd has turned sour?
Whisk in two or three tablespoons of milk or fresh malai and raise the sugar slightly. If it is very sour, do not use it here. Save it for kadhi or vaghareli bhaat, where the sourness actually helps.
Can I make this a day ahead?
You can boil and cube the potatoes and whisk the curd separately, both in the fridge. Combine them, and pour the tempering, half an hour before serving. Mixed and left overnight, dahi bataka goes watery and sour.
