How an Indian Chef Makes a Traditional Thali Dinner

A thali is an Indian meal served on one platter.

This is how we ate dinner growing up as kids

and this is still how we eat dinner to this day

in New Delhi, a thali traditionally consists of

dal, a veggie or meat, raita, roti,

achar and green chilies and onions.

My name is Akshay Bhardwaj.

My family is from New Delhi, India

and this is how I make a North Indian Thali dinner.

[gentle music]

So for our first component, we're making Dal

which translates to lentils,

rough chop of the onions

to start with.

Red onions are more common

in New Dehli cuisine.

We're gonna be adding

one garlic into the lentils.

We just wanna rinse the Dal

and that's the starch that's being released.

I have rinsed the lentils

and now we're going to put it in the pressure cooker.

I'm adding water to it

and this pressure cooker is about the same age as me.

This pressure cooker comes from my family.

My grandmother gave it to my mom.

What it does is it seals in the steam

while you're cooking.

It cuts down the cooking time by about at least 25 to 50%.

This is the tricky part.

My mom makes it look much easier than I do.

We are just gonna lock it in here,

and now it's airtight.

So now that the steam is released

we're gonna just move this off

to the side and allow the rest

of the lentils to cook in its own pressure and steam.

We're making our tarka is an infusion of spices

the tempering of spices.

I'm adding my onions and garlic.

The onions and the garlic

are close to being brown.

We're gonna add in our spices

and let those roast in the pan as well.

About two spoons of coriander.

We're adding some chili powder and turmeric.

The turmeric is gonna help in giving the Dal

the final color that you'll see

as well as floral aroma.

So now that we see that the oil is separating

from the onions and garlic that we've sauteed

we know that it's ready to be infused in the Dal.

More turmeric, we added the lentils

and we're just incorporating the onion garlic mixture.

You can make it to the consistency that you want.

So if you want it to be this soupy,

that's perfectly fine

and if you do want something a little more thicker

that's also perfectly fine.

We're just gonna finish

with a little bit of chopped cilantro.

Yeah, it's perfect.

[gentle music]

So now I'm gonna make my favorite dish,

which is Gobi.

Traditionally in India

it is accompanied by potatoes as well.

So the dish is name is usually Aloo Gobi,

potatoes and cauliflower.

My personal preference is just having the cauliflower

on its own.

In New Dehli, there are farms up north in Punjab

they have over there cauliflower, potatoes, eggplant.

That's why you see it in a lot of dishes in New Dehli

when it comes to the vegetables.

We're using a neutral oil

like a canola oil for this.

And now that the oil is hot

we're gonna add in our cumin seeds.

The cumin seeds are gonna give a nice, earthy, warm flavor.

Ginger, garlic paste.

Ginger garlic is a staple of Indian cooking

whether it's a paste or it's minced.

The paste form we use for marinations

like chicken tikka or lamb chops

or other kebabs.

Coriander adds a nice citrus note to the dish.

Chili powder, you can put in as much chili powder

as you want, depending on the heat level that you want.

The turmeric is also playing an important role for flavor

as well as giving color to the cauliflower.

Spices mixed with oils

help preserve these dishes to last longer.

So you'll see a lot of curries, lentils.

Those can be left in the fridge for days

to upwards of a week,

and the flavor actually does enhance.

So once again, we are looking

for the oil to kind of separate from the spices

that might take like a minute or two.

We're gonna add our cauliflower in now.

Salt also, cauliflower is about 80 to 90% water.

We're just gonna place a lid on top

and let it cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

We can see all the water

that the cauliflower has released.

We're just gonna give this a little bit of a stir.

If it's crunchy or if it's soft,

depending on how you like the cauliflower,

you're free to choose.

I'm gonna season with a little bit of kasoori methi

which is also dry fenugreek leaves.

80% of the production of fenugreek comes from India.

It does have a little citrusy flavor.

So as you would season something

with fresh lemon juice or lime juice at the end

you wanna do the same with the fenugreek.

Finished with some fresh cilantro that we chopped.

All right, the Gobi's all finished.

So raita is a yogurt based condiment,

usually used as a side dish

for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Dahi is the cured milk mixed with yogurt

so it keeps its bacteria.

The whey is also kept in it is unstrained.

Now I'm gonna add just a little bit of milk.

The milk is just for consistency purposes.

Raita is actually literally the first thing I've ever made

in my life.

My mom used to let me make it when I was like four

years old, and I would always be snacking on the boondi.

It's just very addicting once you start eating it.

[gentle music]

So I'm adding cumin powder,

black salt, or kala namak.

This is volcanic salt

that is from the area of the Himalayas.

So they have a little more of a sulfuric content

and that sulfur flavor gives a little pungency

as well as acidity.

This is the black salt in its whole form.

You just need a little bit

because it's gonna overpower the other spices.

Red chili powder, crushed black pepper.

So now I'm just gonna whisk our raita.

So we're just looking for a kind of a smooth consistency.

That was perfect.

[gentle music]

So we are making rot now.

Roti is an unleavened bread.

This is the base for

a myriad of other breads.

It's about a two to one ratio of flour to water.

This is stone ground whole wheat flour.

I'm Punjabi.

So we tend to eat roti more often.

So in North India, wheat is produced over there.

So there's more roti and pratas

and breads that are eaten in North India

versus rice being the predominant grain

that's eaten in the south.

That's the reason why our thali doesn't have any rice.

You just want to need it for a couple

of minutes

and just make sure that the salt is spread out.

And we're just gonna add a little bit of oil now

so that it will provide a little bit more of

a shine and coloring when we're cooking it on the stove top.

You don't really have to let it rest too long.

You just wanna place a damp towel

on top of it so that it doesn't dry

out the dough and that

there's no crust that forms.

This is the board that we roll the roti on.

It's called a chakla.

It was my grandmother's who passed it

down to my mother in 1990.

This chakla is older than me.

When it comes to the hierarchy of the family.

This gets more love and respect than I do.

So I'm just making the balls right now.

Now that we have formulated the roti balls

we are going to dip it in

some more whole wheat flour

so that it doesn't stick onto my hands.

So I'm just rotating it.

I'm pressing down with my fingers.

Here you have the belan, which is the rolling pin.

The goal is to make it the same thickness throughout.

So I'm just gonna take a little bit more flour

on both sides.

So this is pretty much ready.

So now I'm just gonna slap this a little bit.

I'm getting out some

of the excess flour that was on the dough.

And then we have here our tava,

which is a flat skillet.

What we wanna start seeing

on the roti itself

is it to start bubbling.

This is kind of the traditional method of cooking the rotis.

It takes a little while to get hot

but once it is hot,

it'll maintain that temperature.

So once you start seeing bubbles on one side

you wanna flip it over to the next side

and we wanna see it to start to brown and to color.

The rote is done cooking.

We put it in the rote dabba

and we put a little rag in it to cover it

so that it can remain moist and it doesn't dry up.

So you can buy pre-packaged rotis.

And to be very honest,

they're not bad at all.

So this is perfect,

absolute perfect color.

This is done.

[gentle music]

So we've arrived at our final destination.

It is time to plate.

We have our Thali and our katoris.

Here we have our dal.

Everything should be served hot.

Our cauliflower.

Now we're gonna add our boondi to the raita

Boondi being the crispy chickpeas.

You mix the boondi in the raita

before serving it

so that you can get it in every bite.

Couple more on top because I love it so much.

And now we have raw onions.

These onions are great for texture

and adding a little crunch and sweetness.

One green chili, just like the onions,

it adds a nice crunch.

So I typically eat this meal with achar

also known as pickles.

It gives great sour, spicy and sweet notes.

And lastly, we have our roti.

You wanna leave your roti in the basket as long

as possible to maintain its temperature.

And this is my New Dehli Thali.

So when it comes to eating

everyone has their own preferences.

This is the way I eat a Thali,

so I'm just ripping the roti

and now I'm just gonna grab a piece

of the cauliflower

and then dip it into my raita and my dal

and now I'm going to eat it.

[gentle music]

So that really is, in my opinion, the perfect bite.

You have a lot of bold flavors that are built

in through each of these three dishes.

The cauliflower has a little bit of spice to it.

The dal with the onions

and the garlic has a lot of flavor as well.

The yogurt just does a perfect job

of bringing balance to the entire dish.

No forks, no knives, no spoons, no utensils.

Eating with my hands,

that's the way to do it.

We tend to just use our right hand when eating.

It's just better functionality wise

since you wanna keep your left hand clean

whether it's to drink water

or nowadays maybe check your phone.

The messier, the better, is what I always say.

I have really fond memories

of eating a thali

just like this while I was growing up.

I just have always loved eating out of this

whether it's eating on the dining table

or maybe watching a Yankee game with my dad and mom.

It's that freshness, it's that boldness of flavor.

It's those textures, those spices.

And you know when you see this

that you're gonna be full

and you're gonna be happy at the end of the meal.

[gentle music]