This dalia recipe is the savoury, everyday kind: namkeen vegetable daliya made with broken wheat, a little moong dal and whatever vegetables you have, cooked in a pressure cooker until soft and spoonable. You roast, temper and pressure cook in the same cooker, so there is only one pot to wash.
Dalia (broken wheat, also called daliya or godhuma rava) is whole wheat cracked into small pieces. Because the bran stays on, it takes longer to cook than rava and needs more water. The quantities and whistle counts here are for medium dalia, the most common kind in Indian shops, with notes for fine and coarse grades. Of all broken wheat recipes it is the simplest to start with. Sweet dalia with milk and jaggery and Gujarati lapsi are covered further down.
45 minServes 3Vegetarian257 kcal
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Recipe card
Namkeen Vegetable Dalia
Roasted broken wheat and moong dal pressure cooked with vegetables, cumin, ginger and tomato.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Pressure release
- 10 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
Makes 3 bowls
Dalia
- ¾ cup medium dalia (broken wheat)
- 2 tbsp yellow moong dalrinsed
- 3 cups hot water
- 1 tsp saltor to taste
Tadka and vegetables
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- hing (asafoetida)
- 1 inch gingergrated
- 1 green chillichopped
- 1 medium onionchopped
- 1 medium tomatochopped
- 1 small carrotdiced
- ⅓ cup green peas
- 6 french beanschopped
- ½ tsp haldi (turmeric powder)
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
To finish
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp coriander leaveschopped
You will need
- 3 litre pressure cooker
Method
Roast the dalia
Heat 1 tsp of the ghee in the open pressure cooker on medium heat. Add the dalia and roast, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes until it smells toasty and turns a shade darker. Tip it onto a plate.
Start the tadka
Add the remaining ghee to the cooker. Add jeera and let it sizzle until it darkens slightly, then add hing, ginger and green chilli and stir for 20 seconds.
Cook onion and tomato
Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes until light golden. Add the tomato, turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the tomato is soft and mushy.
Add the vegetables
Stir in carrot, peas and beans and cook for 2 minutes so they are coated in masala.
Add dalia, dal and water
Add the roasted dalia, the rinsed moong dal, the hot water, garam masala and the remaining salt. Stir well, scraping the bottom so nothing sticks. Taste the water; it should be well seasoned.
Pressure cook
Close the lid and cook on high heat until the first whistle, then lower to medium and cook for 2 more whistles, about 10 to 12 minutes in all. Switch off.
Let the pressure settle
Leave the cooker alone until the pressure drops on its own, about 10 minutes. The dalia keeps cooking in this time, so do not release the pressure by force.
Adjust and serve
Open the lid and stir. The dalia should be soft and loose, like a thick khichdi. If it is too thick, add a quarter cup of hot water and simmer for a minute. Add lemon juice and coriander and serve hot.
Tips that make the difference
- Use hot water in the cooker. Cold water brings the temperature down and the dalia can stick at the bottom before the cooker builds pressure.
- Roasting is optional but worth it: roasted dalia stays a little grainy instead of turning to porridge.
- Cookers whistle at different speeds. If yours whistles within 2 to 3 minutes of each other, go by time instead: about 10 minutes on medium after the first whistle.
- The moong dal makes the dalia creamier. Skip it if you want separate grains.
- Dalia thickens a lot as it cools, so keep it slightly looser than you want to eat it.
Storing: Keeps in the fridge for 2 days in a covered box. It sets firm; add a splash of hot water and stir over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or microwave covered with a little water.
Why this dalia recipe uses a pressure cooker
Broken wheat keeps its bran, and bran softens slowly. In an open pan, medium dalia needs 25 to 30 minutes of simmering with frequent stirring, and it sticks if you look away. A pressure cooker does the same job in about 12 minutes with no stirring, and the moong dal breaks down at the same time and turns creamy.
Roasting the dalia first in a little ghee toasts the outside of each piece. It then absorbs water evenly and gives a soft but distinct grain, rather than a gluey mass. Cooking the masala and vegetables first means the flavour goes into the grain as it cooks, not just on top of it.
Fine, medium and coarse dalia: water and whistles
Shops sell dalia in different sizes, and the right amount of water depends on which you have. These numbers are for a 3 litre cooker and 1 cup of dalia.
| Dalia type | Water per cup | Whistles | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine (often sold as wheat rava) | 3 cups | 2 | Soft, almost like upma |
| Medium (recipe card) | 3.5 to 4 cups | 3 | Soft, loose, spoonable |
| Coarse (fada, used for lapsi) | 4 cups | 4 to 5 | Chewy, nutty grains |
For a drier, pulao-style veg dalia recipe with separate grains, reduce the water to 2.5 cups per cup of medium dalia, leave out the moong dal and cook for 2 whistles. If you use wheat rava in an open pan instead, our upma recipe explains the stirring method.
Daliya recipe in Hindi: names and terms
In North Indian homes this is namkeen daliya or vegetable daliya, and it is a common light dinner as much as a breakfast. If you follow a daliya recipe in Hindi, these are the words you will meet:
- Daliya (दलिया): broken wheat, also called gehun ka daliya.
- Namkeen daliya: the savoury version on this page. Meetha daliya: the sweet version with milk.
- Ghee mein bhunna: roasting in ghee.
- Seeti (सीटी): a pressure cooker whistle.
- Moong dal (मूंग दाल): split yellow lentils.
Whether you search for a dalia recipe in Hindi or ask your nani, the daliya banane ki recipe is short: daliya bhuno, tadka lagao, sabzi daalo, paani daalo, teen seeti lagao. In Gujarat broken wheat is called fada, and in South India godhuma rava.
Sweet dalia and lapsi with jaggery and milk
Meetha daliya with milk
This sweet dalia recipe is a warm breakfast for children and older family members. Roast half a cup of dalia in 1 tsp ghee for 4 minutes. Pressure cook it with 1.5 cups water for 3 whistles. Open, add 1.5 cups milk and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until creamy. Switch off and wait 2 minutes before stirring in 3 to 4 tbsp grated jaggery and a pinch of cardamom powder. Adding jaggery to boiling milk can make it split, so let it cool slightly first. Top with chopped almonds or raisins. With a little more milk this becomes dalia kheer.
Gujarati fada lapsi
Lapsi is a festive sweet, richer than meetha daliya and made without milk. Roast 1 cup coarse fada in 3 tbsp ghee on a low flame for 8 to 10 minutes, till deep golden and aromatic. Add 3 cups hot water carefully (it will splutter), and pressure cook for 4 whistles. This is less water than the namkeen table above because lapsi should end up grainy, not loose. Open, add 0.75 cup grated jaggery and cook on low heat, stirring, until the jaggery melts and the lapsi leaves the sides of the pan with ghee shining at the edges. Add cardamom, slivered almonds and a few raisins. Rajasthani lapsi is made the same way, sometimes with a little more ghee. Treat lapsi as a sweet for occasions rather than an everyday breakfast.
Multigrain dalia and dalia for babies
Multigrain dalia recipe: Mix equal parts broken wheat with bajra, jowar or barley dalia, plus a spoon of moong dal. Millet and barley dalia are harder, so soak the mix for 30 minutes before cooking and add 1 more whistle. The namkeen method above works as it is, with half a cup more water.
Dalia recipe for babies: Many families give dalia once a baby has started solids. Roast the dalia lightly and grind it to a coarse powder. Cook 2 tbsp of this with 1 cup water and a spoon of moong dal until very soft, then mash it smooth. For babies under one year, skip salt and sugar entirely. Your paediatrician can tell you when wheat suits your baby and in what amount.
Healthier swaps and dalia for weight loss
Namkeen dalia is already a good everyday choice: whole grain, vegetables and a little dal. Each bowl from the card above carries roughly 9 g of fibre (enough to call it high fibre) and 9 g of protein. If you are eating it for weight loss, the real levers are the size of the bowl and what goes with it.
- Increase vegetables to 1.5 cups total for the same amount of dalia. Bottle gourd, spinach and cabbage all disappear into the texture.
- Increase the moong dal to a quarter cup for more protein. Add a little more water.
- Cut the ghee to 2 tsp and roast the dalia dry.
- Have curd or raita alongside.
- Keep sweet dalia and lapsi as occasional treats; the jaggery adds a lot of sugar.
For other whole grain breakfasts, see our oats recipe or a protein-forward moong dal chilla.
Fixing common dalia problems
| Issue | Likely reason | Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Burnt smell, stuck at bottom | Too little water or cold water added | Transfer the top part to another pan without scraping; next time use hot water and stir before closing |
| Dalia still hard in the middle | Coarse dalia or too few whistles | Add half a cup hot water and cook 1 more whistle |
| Too thick and pasty | Fine dalia with too much dal | Loosen with hot water; use less dal next time |
| Bland | Water not seasoned enough | Stir in salt, lemon and a fresh jeera and ghee tadka |
Serving dalia and packing it for lunch
Serve namkeen dalia with plain curd, a cucumber raita, a lemon wedge or a spoon of green chutney. A few roasted peanuts or a sprinkle of sev on top add crunch for children. It also makes a light dinner after a heavy lunch.
For a lunchbox, cook it slightly looser than usual and pack it hot in an insulated container. It will thicken to the right texture by lunchtime. For more morning meals, browse our breakfast recipes.
Questions cooks ask
Is dalia the same as rava?
No. Dalia is cracked whole wheat with the bran, while bombay rava (sooji) is refined semolina. Fine wheat rava sits in between. Dalia needs more water and longer cooking.
How many whistles for dalia in a pressure cooker?
For medium dalia, 3 whistles in a 3 litre cooker, then let the pressure release naturally. Fine dalia needs 2, and coarse fada needs 4 to 5.
Can I make this dalia recipe without a pressure cooker?
Yes. Use a heavy pot, add 4.5 cups water for 1 cup medium dalia, cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Add more hot water if it thickens too soon.
Is dalia good for breakfast every day?
Savoury dalia with vegetables and dal is a sensible everyday breakfast. Rotate it with other grains and lentil dishes like besan chilla so your week has variety.
Can people with diabetes eat dalia?
Dalia is a whole grain, but it is still a carbohydrate food. Anyone managing blood sugar should follow their doctor's or dietitian's advice on portions, and pair dalia with vegetables, dal and curd rather than jaggery.
Is dalia gluten free?
No. Dalia is wheat, so it contains gluten. For a gluten free breakfast with a similar feel, try poha or millet dalia made from jowar or bajra alone.