Dal bhat ( ne, दालभात, ur, دال بھات, bn, ডাল ভাত, gu, દાળ ભાત, mr, डाळ भात, as, দাইল ভাত ''dail bhat'' / ডালি ভাত ''dali bhat'') is a traditional meal from the Indian subcontinent, popular in many areas of Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. It consists of steamed rice and a cooked lentil or other
pulses
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
staple food
A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...
in these countries. ''Bhat'' or ''chawal'' means "boiled rice" in a number of Indo-Aryan languages.
At higher elevations in Nepal, above , where rice does not grow well, other grains such as maize, buckwheat, barley or
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
may be substituted in a cooked preparation called dhindo or ''atho'' in Nepal. Bhat may be supplemented with roti in Nepal (rounds of unleavened bread).
Dal may be cooked with onion,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
,
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
turmeric. Recipes vary by season, locality, ethnic group and family.
Dal bhat is often served with vegetable tarkari or torkari ( in Hindi, তরকারি in Bengali) – a mix of available seasonal vegetables. It is also called dal bhat tarkari (दाल भात तरकारी) in
Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
and Bengali (ডাল ভাত তরকারি). A small portion of pickle (called ''achar'' or ''loncha'') is sometimes included. In Bengal (West Bengal and Bangladesh) dal bhat may accompany machh bhaja (মাছ ভাজা - fried fish).
Dal bhat Birethani.jpg, Nepalese-style dal bhat
Marathi cuisine
Maharashtrian or Marathi cuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has distinctive attributes, while sharing much with other Indian cuisines. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to ...
Sikkimese cuisine
In the cuisine of Sikkim, in northeastern India, rice is a staple food, and fermented foods traditionally constitute a significant portion of the cuisine. Indian cuisine is popular, as Sikkim is the only state of India with an ethnic Indian Gorkh ...
Bihari cuisine
Bihari cuisine is eaten mainly in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, as well as in the places where people originating from the state of Bihar have settled: Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, South Africa, Fiji, some ...
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Awadhi cuisine
Awadhi cuisine ( hi, अवधी पाक-शैली, ur, ) is a cuisine native to the Awadh region in Northern India. The cooking patterns of Lucknow are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India with the cuisi ...
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Bhojpuri cuisine
Bhojpuri cuisine is a style of food preparation common amongst the Bhojpuri people of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Bhojpuri foods are mostly mild and are less hot in term of spices used, but could be hotter and spicier according to indivi ...