Batar da’an

History

An everyday dish in East Timor, batar da’an (literally “mixed corn”) combines corn, red beans, and squash, three subsistence crops that have shaped Timorese agriculture since Portuguese traders introduced corn starting in the 16th century. The dish reflects how the Timorese adapted to mountainous soils poorly suited to intensive rice growing.

Simple and inexpensive to prepare, batar da’an remains one of the most common meals in East Timor’s countryside today, eaten daily alongside rice or on its own depending on a household’s means.

Ingredients — serves 4

• 300 g corn kernels (fresh or rehydrated dried)
• 200 g dried red beans
• 300 g squash or pumpkin
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• Lemongrass leaves
• Oil, salt, pepper

Batar da’an, step by step

1. Soak the dried red beans overnight in cold water.
2. Cook the drained beans in fresh water for about 45 minutes, until tender.
3. Sauté the minced onion and garlic in a little oil until fragrant.
4. Add the corn and the squash cut into cubes, then moisten with a little of the beans’ cooking water.
5. Stir in the cooked beans and a bruised lemongrass leaf, then let simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper before serving hot, on its own or with rice.

Cooking method

Technique: a simple simmer of legumes and vegetables precooked separately then combined, an economical method typical of subsistence cooking.

Traditional equipment: a clay pot set over a wood fire directly on the ground in Timorese homes.

Signs it’s ready: the squash should soften slightly to bind the dish, while the corn and beans keep a whole texture.

Economic context

Timor-Leste has no individual data point in the World Bank dataset for 2024; the regional East Asia & Pacific average is shown instead. Batar da’an’s own economics need little further explanation: corn, dried beans and squash are the three subsistence crops the dish is named after, chosen because they grow reliably in mountainous Timorese soil poorly suited to rice, and the whole recipe is built to be inexpensive rather than incidentally so.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. Timor-Leste has no individual 2024 data point in this dataset; the figure shown is the East Asia & Pacific regional average for 2024. It is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings. Fibre is the standout figure: 11 g per serving from the combination of dried beans, corn and squash, delivered with very little fat since the recipe uses only a small amount of oil to sauté the aromatics.

Protein, at 15 g per serving, comes almost entirely from the beans rather than any animal source.

Who this dish suits

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