Sainath Dhaba - on the road from Ellora caves to Aurangabad City, Maharashtra

dal + baati, methi lasun, shevga curry, dal tadka, chapati, jeera rice = we were in a hurry. 

Hotel Sainath Dhaba - sounded like one of the many roadside eating houses that are to be found on India's highways. Except that this was not on a particularly big highway or in the main roads. This dhaba was very unlike a dhaba, and was on the road from Ellora Caves as one would return to Aurangabad city. This eating house is on the left hand side, and easy to access on the return journey from the caves. Initially, the name 'Hotel Sainath' made me assume that it was one of the nodescript eating houses that would serve routine fare and I was not incline to go in. My friend and companion on the journey, his colleagues and the driver swore about the splendid food that would be available and moreover exclaimed that they 'always stopped here without fail' whenever they would travel in this route. 

The clincher was the statement by one of them that he would also get the food packed up for his family back at his house in Aurangabad and they loved the food. As we approached closer after parking the car - there is plenty of convenient parking availabe - I saw the display sign that mentioned their speciality - 'Dal Baati'. That made me smile. It is rare to get 'Dal Baati' at roadside eating houses in Maharashtra. One may get them easily at Rajasthan, Bihar, north Madhya Pradesh or in Uttarakhand, but, in Maharashtra? That was unheard of. Totally. This was such a welcome surprise. 

Dal Baati (= in Hindi - दाल बाटी) is a popular cuisine in most parts of northern and western Rajasthan and in the Bundela and Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh. It is the most favoured cuisine of the locals during the Sounpur fair, east of Patna in Bihar in November-December-January. The crackling fire, the warmth of the fireplace and the biting chills of the winter months along the Ganges at Sounpur is the most tantalising charm of the Dal Baati. Nothing can beat it. No cuisine in any 5-star or 7-star can beat the joy of sitting alongside the Ganges in an Elephant Camp in the winter of December and crunching on super-hot Dal Baati with lots of butter and ghee.

Dal refers to lentils and is usually cooked like a lentil soup with some spices, and Baati refers to hardened (by baking sometimes) wheat balls. Dal - usually Tur Dal - is boiled and sauteed, I prefer the word - tempered, with oil, rai, jeera, green chilli, garlic, red chilli, turmeric, coriander, ginger and sometimes, hing. After it's ready, a huge dollop of ghee (clarified butter) is added.

The Baati is the hardened wheat ball, that is made ready by cooking within the coal and cow-dung cakes' fire that functions as a local oven. When ready, it is pulled out, cleaned of the ashes from the fire, and dunked in ghee and broken up, and served. It is eaten by dunking it once again in the steaming hot dal. One can eat it with various accompaniments, as also as a side dish to a regular lunch. Though, that would be an insult to Dal Baati.

My friend and his companions knew the owner of the dhaba from their previous visits and he also seemed to know them and spoke of their earlier visit. They went about placing their order for Dal Baati and other dishes. One of the preferred ones was 'Methi Lasun'. I enjoyed the atmosphere within the dhaba. While from the outside, from the road, it had looked like a nondescript eating house, it was very different when one had entered. In the interior, it looked more like a traditional north-Indian dhaba, with its very regular cooking corner. The chef's corner was absolutely dhaba-like. 

Dal Baati is usually eaten with Churma and therefore is known as Dal Baati Churma. Its mostly found in the northern, western and north-eastern regions of Rajasthan, and is favoured in the Bundela regions of north Madhya Pradesh. But, as I said earlier, the best place to enjoy it is at Sounpur, near Patna in Bihar. The key is to bake it in an wood fire strengthened with cow dung cakes. It makes up for a good oven, gives even temperature and allows the baking to be completed in excellent time. The dangerous, but the most tempting and tastiest part of this recipe is the generosity and sumptuous use of ghee. The Dal Baatis are required to actually swim in ghee, for otherwise the recipe is not complete.

There is a secret to excellent accompaniment in the Dal. It is best when it is a mixture of five lentils, and is usually called Pancham Dal or some other variants. Another secret that I saw in Sounpur was to sautee some spices in ghee separately and constantly add them to the bowls containing the Baatis or the bowls containing the Dal. The instant combustion brings up the odour and smell along with the woodsmoke and engulfs you completely. You know you are in India, and you know that you love the food of India and that everything is allright in your life and in the world at that moment.

We also had other dishes. The major choice was 'Methi Lasun' which literally translates to 'Garlic + Fenugreek', and as coined, means that it is heavy on garlic used to sautee with fenugreek leaves. It is cooked in a dry mode, without any gravy, just a dash of oil and spices. Its heavenly. They had a choice, if we wanted it in gravy or dry mode. We had chosen it to be served as dry accompaniment to the Dal Baati. It made up for all the heavy ghee dose that we got with the other dishes. 

I have eaten Methi Lasun in other places, and I usually ask for it as a safe option instead of heavily oily dishes or deep fried dishes. The Hotel Sainath Dhaba did a good enough Methi Lasun dish and I would certainly return to the place to eat again. 

They had a decent tandoor corner, and we should have chosen the tandoori rotis. But, we did not have the courage or energy or strength to do so after having hogged on the dal baatis. We went for chapatis. But, there were others who were asking for tandoori rotis and we did enjoy seeing them eat the hot fluffy and quite soft looking rotis. Next time, for sure.

Suddenly, on an impulse, my friends and their companions decided to recommend drumstick curry (= shevga curry) to go with the jeera rice that we had asked for to complete the experience. That was so unlike the south Indian drumstick curries that I am used to, and it just did not go with the jeera rice. I am sure it was not the fault of the dhaba people... it would be our wrong choice.