Dalia recipes: 10 easy broken wheat dishes from khichdi to laddu

Every dish below starts from the same two rules. First, water: one cup of dalia takes three cups of water, the khichdi adds a fourth cup for the dal, and the milk porridge uses four cups of liquid to stay spoonable. Second, the roast: upma and the porridge roast the grains in ghee first, khichdi skips it, and an overnight soak is unnecessary because the grain is already cracked. The broken wheat cooking guide fixes the ratios, timings and mistakes in detail, and the grain itself, names to nutrition, sits on the broken wheat hub page.

Broken wheat recipes in Indian kitchens split two ways at breakfast: sweet and milky, or roasted and savoury. Both start from the same dry cup of dalia.

Dalia porridge

Broken wheat cooked in a pan of milk and water, finished with jaggery and cardamom, on the table in about 20 minutes.

Two and a half cups of milk and one and a half cups of water cook one cup of dalia into three warm bowls; a bowl comes to 278 kcal, with the milk in the bowl adding more on top. The full method, plus a savoury vegetable version, is on the dalia porridge page.

Dalia upma

Broken wheat toasted in ghee, then steamed in three cups of hot, spiced water with onion, carrot and peas till the grains sit apart and soft, ready in about 30 minutes.

Three cups of hot water for one cup of dalia, tempered with mustard, cumin and curry leaves, serves three at 318 kcal a plate with 5.9 g of fibre. The full method is on the dalia upma page.

Namkeen dalia

Dry-roast one cup of dalia for about four minutes, then cook it in three cups of salted water with green chilli and curry leaves until the grains are separate, about twelve to fifteen minutes.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon and fresh coriander; it sits between plain boiled dalia and upma.

Lunch and dinner dalia means a one-pot grain dish with dal or vegetables, cooked soft and served hot.

Dalia khichdi

Broken wheat and split green moong cooked together in the pressure cooker with vegetables, seasoned first with ghee, cumin and hing; one pot carries the whole meal, about 30 minutes.

One cup of dalia, half a cup of moong and four cups of water, cooked for about three whistles and left to rest till the pressure drops, serves four at 286 kcal and 11.4 g of protein a bowl. The full method is on the dalia khichdi page.

Dalia pulao

Saute whole spices, onion and mixed vegetables in two teaspoons of oil, add one cup of roasted dalia and three cups of water, cover and cook until the water is gone, about fifteen minutes.

Fluff and rest it five minutes; it is a lighter stand-in for a rice pulao.

For tea time, the grain turns crunchy: either made into cutlets or fried into a crisp mix.

Dalia cutlets

Pressure cook half a cup of dalia with one cup of water for two whistles, then mash it with boiled potato, grated carrot and chopped coriander into patties.

Shallow-fry the patties in a teaspoon of oil per batch until golden on both sides; serve with curd or chutney.

Dalia chivda

Fry one cup of dalia in two teaspoons of oil until crisp and toasty, then toss it with fried peanuts, curry leaves, salt, turmeric and a pinch of sugar.

Cool it completely and store it in an airtight jar; it keeps as a crunchy tea-time mix.

The sweet side of dalia is a dessert side: ghee and jaggery do the heavy lifting, so these belong to festivals and small portions, not the daily plate.

Dalia laddu

Dry-roast one cup of dalia for about four minutes, cool it, and grind it to a coarse powder; melt two tablespoons of ghee with 100 g of jaggery powder until it bubbles, then stir in the powder and a spoon of warm milk.

Shape the warm mix into small laddus while it is still soft and let them set; a laddu is a dessert, so keep it occasional.

Dalia kheer

Simmer half a cup of dalia in two cups of milk on a low flame, stirring now and then, until the grains are soft, about fifteen minutes.

Sweeten with jaggery or sugar off the flame, add cardamom and a few chopped nuts, and serve warm or chilled.

Dalia halwa

Dry-roast one cup of dalia in two tablespoons of ghee until golden, then pour in one and a half cups of hot water and cook, stirring, until the dalia is soft.

Add 100 g of jaggery powder and stir over low heat until the halwa leaves the sides of the pan; finish with cardamom and nuts.

Pairings finish the dish: curd or raita with khichdi and upma, a squeeze of lemon on savoury bowls, and a glass of buttermilk on the side of cutlets. Cooked dalia dishes keep up to two days in the fridge (UK Food Standards Agency), and dry dalia lasts for months in a sealed jar in a cool, dry cupboard. Portions stay the same across all ten dishes: a katori of cooked dalia is 40 g of dry grain and 137 kcal, so every recipe above scales from that one measure. For the weight side of the question, the is dalia good for weight loss page sorts the dishes that fit a lighter plan from the ones that do not.

What is dalia made of?

Wheat: whole wheat grains broken into small pieces, sold as dalia or broken wheat, and unlike bulgur it is not parboiled first. Every recipe on this page starts from that one plain grain, so the cooking rules above apply to all ten dishes.

How many calories in daliya?

The grain behind these ten recipes carries 342 kcal per 100 g (IFCT 2017), and one cooked katori, from 40 g of dry dalia, holds 137 kcal. Each dish moves from there: the khichdi bowls add moong and ghee, the sweets add ghee and jaggery, and the kheer's milk sits on top of the grain.

Is dalia good for weight loss?

It can be, when the dish is savoury and the portion is one katori. Upma, khichdi and namkeen dalia are the lighter choices; the laddu, kheer and halwa are desserts, and a second katori doubles the grain. The serving math and the studies behind the swap are on the weight loss page.

Which dalia is best for weight loss?

Plain broken wheat, cooked savoury. Coarse or fine, the grain is the same 342 kcal per 100 g, so the choice sits in the dish: vegetable upma or khichdi with a light tempering are the calorie-plan options, and kheer, halwa and laddu are desserts. Read the pack for added sugar before you buy.

Can dalia increase weight?

Yes, when it is eaten as a sweet or in doubled portions: halwa, kheer and laddu bring ghee and jaggery along, and two katoris double the grain. Weight follows the day's balance of calories in and out; dalia is a grain on one side of that balance, nothing more.