The Creamy Breakfast That Keeps You Full Until Lunch

Q: What is Cracked Wheat?

Cracked wheat, also known as broken wheat, is made by grinding up wheat berries to result in a whole grain product. Cracked wheat is often confused with bulgur, which is also made from whole grains, however, bulgur has been cleaned up, parboiled, dried and steamed prior to packaging. Cracked wheat is packaged as is. Cracked wheat is popular amongst Middle Eastern and South Asian recipes. You can buy cracked wheat from any Indian grocery store or online. You get a big bag of them, and I had originally purchased cracked wheat to make Pakistani Haleem, where cracked wheat is a key ingredient. However, I was stuck with all this cracked wheat, and I had to find a way to use it! As I describe in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, if you’re stumped on new ideas for what to make in the kitchen, use ingredients that are sitting in your pantry as a source of inspiration! My grandmother would love to have meetha dalia for breakfast, but growing up I couldn’t appreciate it, and I just wanted to have Weetabix cereal instead. However, now that I’m older, I see why dalia was such a hit in my household, and I’m really excited to share this recipe with you today!

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Want to have a new unique healthy start to the morning? Then this Meetha Dalia recipe is for you!

This porridge recipe is packed full of fiber and is quite easy to make! You can flavor it however you want as you would oatmeal. In this post, I will show you how to make a breakfast version of broken wheat porridge and a sweet pudding version, which is referred to as “kheer” in Hindi. Once you try wheat dalia out, you’ll be hooked! If you’re new to Indian cooking and want to try a fabulous Indian recipe for breakfast, then be sure to try this cracked wheat and milk porridge out as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Get started today by signing up to my free email newsletter, plus all of my latest recipes will be sent straight to your inbox!

To follow along this easy Indian cracked wheat porridge recipe, be sure to watch the video! It would mean a lot to me if you would please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already, and don’t forget to press the bell button so you’re notified when all of my video recipes are live! Let’s get cooking!

Two bowls of cracked wheat porridge topped with black currants and pistachios.

What is Cracked Wheat?▼

Cracked wheat, also known as broken wheat, is made by grinding up wheat berries to result in a whole grain product. Cracked wheat is often confused with bulgur, which is also made from whole grains, however, bulgur has been cleaned up, parboiled, dried and steamed prior to packaging. Cracked wheat is packaged as is. Cracked wheat is popular amongst Middle Eastern and South Asian recipes.

You can buy cracked wheat from any Indian grocery store or online. You get a big bag of them, and I had originally purchased cracked wheat to make Pakistani Haleem, where cracked wheat is a key ingredient. However, I was stuck with all this cracked wheat, and I had to find a way to use it! As I describe in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, if you’re stumped on new ideas for what to make in the kitchen, use ingredients that are sitting in your pantry as a source of inspiration! My grandmother would love to have meetha dalia for breakfast, but growing up I couldn’t appreciate it, and I just wanted to have Weetabix cereal instead. However, now that I’m older, I see why dalia was such a hit in my household, and I’m really excited to share this recipe with you today!

Two bowls of creamy cracked wheat porridge topped with blueberries and pistachios.

Why You’ll Love Dalia Porridge!

Easy to make: While you need to be a bit patient to allow the cracked wheat to roast, the process of making the porridge itself is really easy and straightforward, making this an accessible breakfast to everyone! When you follow this Indian Instant Pot recipe, then it’s even easier!
Healthy: Cracked wheat is all whole grains, containing fiber that will keep you full for a long time! Pair with healthy fats from whole milk and other nutritious toppings of your choice, you’ve got a satiating balanced breakfast that will prevent you from having mid-morning cravings!
Delicious: Need I say more? Even the base recipe for dalia porridge is very delicious, making you want to have it over and over again!
Customizable: There are so many ways you can mix and match different flavors and toppings! I’ve given a couple of ideas to help get you started at the bottom of this post!
Hot and cozy: While you can make dalia any time of the year, it’s particularly comforting in the cold winter months because it is thick and hot, and it will instantly warm you up! I certainly recommend you try a bowl on a cold snowy morning! Although it’s March, in Canada you can still get days where the temperature is below zero degrees, and a hot breakfast or dessert is much needed!

Two bowls of meetha dalia with different toppings: blueberries on the left, pistachios on the right.

How Do I Adjust the Texture of Broken Wheat Porridge?▼

There are two main things you can modify: The texture of the dalia or cracked wheat itself or the thickness of the porridge.

To keep the dalia on the chewier side, 5 minutes pressure cooked at the Instant Pot should be more than enough, same goes for 15-20 minutes on the stovetop. This is my preferred way of enjoying dalia, I find it adds a nice contrast to the sweet milk. In case you want to keep the texture on the softer side, then you would need to pressure cook for 2-3 more minutes and also increase the cooking time if you’re making dalia on the stovetop. This may involve adding extra milk to adjust the texture at the end.

This brings us to the thickness of the porridge, which boils down to, well, the milk. The more you simmer, the thicker it will get. So if the final texture of the dalia is too thick, thin it out by adding more.

Two bowls of creamy cracked wheat porridge topped with black currants and pistachios on a gray surface.

Tips for a Creamy Cracked Wheat Porridge

Toasting the cracked wheat is a super important step which needs your patience. Toast low and slow, look for the color change and the aroma - it will pay off at end.
Keep stirring from time to time while the milk is gently simmering to prevent anything from sticking at the bottom of the sauce pan. If preparing in the Instant Pot, make sure to give the pot a good stir after the pressure is released. This will prevent the dalia from sticking or burning as you are gently simmering and adding in the flavorings.
The cracked wheat does not need to be completely soft to be enjoyed. In fact I prefer a slightly chewy texture. Cook time can be adjusted and for softer dalia, cook for 2-3 minutes longer in the Instant Pot or 10-15 minutes longer on the stove top. Consider adding at least 1/2 to 1 Cup extra milk to account for the extra cook time.
Use your favorite sweetener while finishing the dalia and prepare a large batch to have a healthy breakfast or dessert ready for the days to come. Switch things up by picking a unique topping for each serving.

Tools Needed to Make Broken Wheat Dalia

Ingredients for Meetha Dalia

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD or press the “Jump to Recipe” button to see the ingredient list with quantities and to save the recipe for later. The recipe card also allows you to scale the recipe based on how many portions of Meetha Dalia you want to make - no mental math needed!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Meetha Dalia: milk, maple syrup, cracked wheat, ghee, cardamom, vanilla extract, and spices.

For the Base Dalia

Ghee: To roast the cracked wheat.
Cracked wheat: There is no substitute for this. As mentioned earlier, bulgur tends to be confused with cracked wheat, but they are not the same at all.
Milk: Full fat cow’s milk is my preference, but feel free to use whatever milk you want. Plant-based options that would yield creamy dalia include oat milk or almond milk - you could even make your own almond milk! However, in my opinion you will get best results with full fat dairy milk.
Sweetener: You can use any sweetener of your choice here. Because I’m in Canada, I really became accustomed to using lots of maple syrup! However, simple table sugar is perfectly fine to use in dalia. For other natural liquid sweeteners, try honey or agave syrup. Powdered sugar options include brown sugar, coconut sugar, or cane sugar. If you want sugar-free options, try out Stevia or Splenda.
Vanilla extract: A splash goes a long way to enhance the sweetness and flavors here!
Blueberries: For garnish. If using frozen berries, be sure to thaw them first!

For a Kheer (dessert) Variation

Follow everything above and add the following ingredients:

Ground green cardamom: Adds a wonderful aroma that I use in all of my kheer and Indian dessert recipes!
Saffron: A few strands of it add a nice richness to your kheer.
Pistachios: Mashed up pistachios to add a nice crunch and for garnish.

How to Make Cracked Wheat Porridge

Stovetop Variation

Heat a saucepan on medium heat and then add ghee.

Ghee melting in a saucepan on a stovetop burner, showing a translucent yellow liquid with a piece of butter.

Once ghee is molten, add the cracked wheat and roast until aromatic and until the wheat turns golden brown.

Cracked wheat being poured into a saucepan of melted ghee on the stovetop for roasting.

Cracked wheat being roasted in ghee in a saucepan until golden brown, stirred with a wooden spoon.

Carefully pour in the milk while stirring. Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the cracked wheat softens.

Milk being poured into a pot of roasted cracked wheat with a red spoon stirring the mixture on a stovetop.

Stirring cracked wheat porridge in a black pot with milk on a stovetop using a red spoon.

Cracked wheat being roasted in ghee in a saucepan until golden brown and aromatic.

Add maple syrup or sweetener of choice and vanilla extract.

Maple syrup being poured into a pot of cooked cracked wheat porridge while stirring on the stovetop.

Cracked wheat porridge simmering in a silver pot on the stovetop with a red handle visible.

Stirring milk into cracked wheat porridge in a pot on the stove during cooking.

Serve fresh topped with fruits or berries.

Roasted cracked wheat in a white bowl with a spoon, beside a bowl of milk for Instant Pot Meetha Dalia.

Pouring raisins and dark berries from a small cup into a bowl of cracked wheat porridge mixture.

Instant Pot Variation

Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and then add ghee. Once ghee is molten, add the cracked wheat and roast until aromatic and until the wheat turns golden brown.

Cracked wheat being roasted in ghee in an Instant Pot inner pot on sauté mode.

Roasting cracked wheat in ghee in an Instant Pot using a spatula, grains turning golden brown.

Select Cancel on the Instant Pot and carefully pour in the milk while stirring. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook mode, close the lid and set the valve to Sealing mode. Cook for 5 minutes.

Hand opening Instant Pot lid to release steam from cooked meetha dalia porridge inside.

Hand opening Instant Pot lid after pressure cooking meetha dalia porridge.

Let the pressure release for 3-4 minutes and then do a manual pressure release.

Cracked wheat and milk mixture in Instant Pot after pressure cooking, ready for sweeteners and flavoring additions.

Cracked wheat (dalia) in an Instant Pot after pressure cooking, showing the cooked grains before adding sweeteners and spices.

Add maple syrup or sweetener of choice and vanilla extract, along with the ground green cardamom and saffron strands.

Maple syrup being drizzled into cooked cracked wheat porridge in an Instant Pot with saffron strands visible.

Cooked cracked wheat porridge in Instant Pot with sweetener and spices mixed in, ready to serve.

Cracked wheat porridge in Instant Pot with sweetener and spices stirred in, ready to serve.

Serve fresh topped with dried fruits.

Two bowls of cracked wheat porridge with toppings being added; one topped with berries, the other with whipped cream.

Wooden bowl held in hand filled with roasted pistachios for garnishing dalia.

Two bowls of meetha dalia topped with blueberries and pistachios, served warm in white ceramic bowls.

Enjoy!

Meetha dalia served in white bowls, with a spoonful showing creamy cracked wheat porridge topped with pistachios and dried fruits.

Do I Serve Dalia Hot Or Cold?▼

You can serve dalia hot or cold, whatever your preference is! I’ve only ever had it hot, but I can imagine this would be delicious cold because it would have had the time to thicken up setting in the fridge. Try it both ways and see which way you prefer!

Two bowls of cracked wheat porridge with different toppings: blueberries on left, pistachios on right.

Flavor Variations for Cracked Wheat Porridge

Chocolate: Add a dash of cocoa powder and perhaps even some chocolate chips or a few squares of your favorite chocolate bar for a chocolatey delight!
Turmeric: You can add a touch of ground turmeric and mashed whole turmeric root to get a beautiful golden color and all of the antioxidant properties turmeric has to offer!
Vanilla: I’m already adding vanilla extract to the base recipe, but if you want a richer vanilla flavor, you could add Madagascar vanilla bean paste or a whole vanilla bean pod.
Cinnamon: Add in a whole cinnamon stick and ground cinnamon for that comforting warm spice. You could also combine with a pinch of nutmeg.

Two bowls of cracked wheat porridge topped with blueberries and pistachios on gray surface.

Topping Ideas

Think of dalia like oatmeal in that you can garnish however you want! Here’s just a handful of ideas to keep things interesting with your dalia!

Dried fruits: You can garnish with sliced nuts as opposed to roughly chopped. I used pistachios here, but feel free to try out cashews, almonds, or peanuts. You can even garnish with raisins.
Nut butter: Feel free to drizzle or add a dollop of your favorite nut butter, such as peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter.
Nutella: Who doesn’t love Nutella? Of course you can use the brand name Nutella, which I really love, or you could make your own vegan Coconut Nutella to try something new!
Berries: Any of your favorite berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries.
Fruits: Apples or bananas on top would be excellent. You could even top with Caramelized Bananas!

Two bowls of creamy cracked wheat porridge topped with blueberries and pistachios on gray surface.

Storing Leftover Dalia

You can most certainly make a large batch of dalia and enjoy it for later - both for breakfast or the kheer-style dalia! Transfer for your leftovers into an airtight container and store in the fridge. All you need to do to enjoy cold dalia is to take it out of the fridge, or perhaps leave it at room temperature for a few minutes before enjoying.

Otherwise, for hot dalia, reheating in the microwave is easiest! Heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it is evenly warmed through.

Other Indian Breakfast Ideas

Other Indian Instant Pot Recipes

Sweet Dalia or the Savory Version? What This Recipe Is

Dalia gets cooked two completely different ways in Indian kitchens, and it is worth being clear about which one you have landed on. This is the sweet one - meetha dalia, cracked wheat simmered in milk with a sweetener, the bowl my grandmother wanted for breakfast every morning. The savory version is a different dish altogether, much closer to a khichdi: the same cracked wheat, but cooked down with onions, tomatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, bell peppers, potatoes or spinach, seasoned with cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder and garam masala, sharpened with green chili, ginger and a squeeze of lemon juice, and eaten as a full meal rather than a breakfast. None of that happens on this page. If a savory dalia khichdi is what you came looking for, my Instant Pot Khichdi, linked further down, is built on the same idea with rice in place of the wheat.

Milk, Water and Getting the Consistency You Want

There are no cups of water in this recipe, and that is deliberate. One cup of cracked wheat goes into two and a half cups of milk, and cooking the grain entirely in milk rather than water is what gives sweet daliya its body. Full-fat cow's milk is my preference; if you want something lighter, swapping half the milk for water is the honest way to do it, and it will taste thinner because it is. Pouring the milk in is the one step to take slowly - it hits a hot pan of freshly roasted wheat, so add it gradually while stirring. Some cooks warm the milk first so the pan does not lose its heat, which is worth doing for a big batch, though at this quantity it is not necessary.

Consistency is entirely in your hands and it comes down to how long you simmer, because the more the milk reduces the thicker the porridge gets. If it sets up thicker than you wanted, loosen it with a splash of hot milk at the end and it comes straight back. The cracked wheat itself does not need to be completely soft - I prefer it slightly chewy against the sweet milk. For a softer grain, add 2-3 minutes in the Instant Pot or 10-15 minutes on the stovetop, and add at least half a cup to a cup of extra milk to cover the longer cook. There is no salt in the sweet version at all, but a small pinch stirred in at the end does sharpen the sweetness if you find it flat.

A Regular Pot or a Pressure Cooker: Both Routes Work

The recipe runs two ways and neither one is better. In a regular pot - any saucepan will do - you melt the ghee, roast the cracked wheat low and slow until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, pour in the milk, and hold it at a gentle simmer for 15-20 mins, stirring from time to time so nothing catches on the bottom. In the Instant Pot, which is simply an electric pressure cooker, you do the same roasting on Saute mode, press Cancel, stir the milk in, then pressure cook for 5 minutes and let the pressure release for 3-4 minutes before releasing the rest manually. Give the pot a good stir once it opens; the porridge always looks thinner under pressure than it turns out to be.

A stovetop pressure cooker is the one route I would steer you away from for this. Milk foams under pressure, and counting whistles is a poor way to time something that can climb the sides of the pot - with only 15-20 mins between you and the same result, the regular pot is the safer swap. Whichever route you take, the roasting is the step that cannot be rushed. It is the difference between a porridge that tastes of toasted whole wheat grain and one that tastes of very little at all.

Sweeteners and Toppings for a Sweet Dalia Recipe

Sweeten to taste, at the end, off the heat. Maple syrup is what I reach for, but plain table sugar is perfectly good in dalia, honey and agave syrup both work as liquid swaps, and brown sugar, coconut sugar or cane sugar cover the powdered ones. Jaggery is the traditional Indian choice and dissolves best broken into small pieces and stirred into the hot porridge. Stevia or Splenda handle the sugar-free case. Whatever you pick, a teaspoon of vanilla extract goes in alongside it - a splash does more for the sweetness than another spoon of syrup ever will.

Two glasses of creamy kheer topped with fried cashews and caramelized onions on a speckled gray surface.

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Why You’ll Love Dalia Porridge!

Tips for a Creamy Cracked Wheat Porridge

Tools Needed to Make Broken Wheat Dalia