Dahi Dhungariyu – Crumbled and Smoked Pearl Millet Bread

Have you ever noticed how Gujarati cuisine names its foods in a very gender-specific manner, for example, our everyday flatbreads Rotli and Rotla – the Rotli is the petit, fine and thin whole-wheat flatbread eaten daily in most urban households while the Rotla is the large, thick, rustic and though looking millet flatbread that is the staple in the rural areas. The Rotla is the quintessential peasant bread of Gujarat. Then we have the Dhokli and Dhokla – the Dhokli again is the thin usually square shaped pasta that we add to our veggies and lentils while the steamed thick and spongy squares made from lentils and rice are called Dhokla. The mild and simple Khichdi is the rice-dal risotto while the hot and fiery Khichdo is wheat-dal risotto. The Ladudi and Ladvo the small and large mithai truffles, Sev and Ganthiya – the thin and thick chickpea flour noodle-like snacks…The foods that have hardy and tough features and form are given masculine names!!

The brings me to today’s recipe. Dahi Dhungariyu is a vanishing recipe from the region of Upleta in Rajkot district. I have eaten this food only once but the earthiness and simplicity of it were so appealing that I needed to document it.

Our search for the traditional food practices of Gujarat and exploring the regional and rural cuisine took us to an organic food festival in Rajkot and this is where we got to taste Dahi Dhungariyu. Again the name of the dish is derived from the cooking process that is involved in creating it. Dhungariyu comes from the work Dhungarvu or to smoke or dum it. Traditionally the dishes got its smoky flavour as they were cooked on wood-fired stoves, some dishes were smoked with coal and ghee to impart it the rustic flavour.

Dahi Dhungariyu is one such preparation made with leftover Rotla. As mentioned earlier in this post Rotla are millet flatbreads largely consumed in the rural parts of Gujarat. They are very similar to Maharashtrian Bhakhari. The southern Gujaratis make the Rotla from Jowar or Sorghum, towards North Gujarat Maize rotla are a staple, while the rest make it with Bajra or Pearl millet. The leftover Rotla is crumbled very finely, tempered in ghee and green garlic and smoked. The dish makes an appearance during winters when green garlic is in season and the leftover Rotla becomes too hard to be consumed the next day morning. The Dhungariya is to be had with spiced yoghurt and is thus called Dahi Dhungariyu.

The recipe is shared by Alpaben Jadeja, one of the leading organizers of the Rajkot Organic Foodfest. I planned to share this last year, but by the time I reach back home after our stay in Ahmedabad and settle into the routine, winters are almost over. This year too, I am running behind schedule, since I had made and photographed it (in fading evening light) during my India visit, this had to be shared for sure…