Dal Dhokli

There is nothing comparable to having steaming hot dal dhokli for dinner on a cool rainy evening. This is a one pot meal with packed nutrition. Though this is a proper Gujarati recipe we learnt it from our neighbor who is from west bengal; kudos to national diversity cum integration. Thank you Urmila aunt for introducing this wonderful recipe to us, amma had made it a custom to make dal dhokli on rainy days. It can be described as a parallel dish to south Indian sambar-idli in which, bite sized idlis float in sambar; in dal dhokli bite sized rotis float in dal. Believe me, it is so ecstatic for rainy day dinners.

  

Serves: 2-3

Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

1.                  Tuvar dal – 1 cup

2.                Channa dal – 2 tbsp

3.                Groundnuts – 2 tbsp

4.                Moong dal with skin – 4 tbsp

5.                 Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

6.                Cumin – ½ tsp

7.                 Tomatoes - 3

8.                Chili powder – 1 tsp

9.                Coriander chopped – 2 tbsp

10.            Garam masala – 1 tsp

11.              Asafoetida – 1 pinch

12.            Wheat flour – ½ cup

13.            Gram flour – ½ cup

14.            Oil – 1 tbsp

15.             Ajwain – ¼ tsp

16.            Ghee – 3 tbsp

                   17.     Salt as per taste

Method:

Step 1: Wash all the pulses together and pressure cook them with turmeric until mushy.

Step 2: Take wheat flour, gram flour, salt, some chili powder, a pinch of asafoetida, some garam masala, 1 tbsp ghee in a bowl and knead to get a soft dough.

Step 3: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed pan, sprinkle asafoetida and splutter cumin seeds and sprinkle asafoetida in that. Now, add tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes and then add the cooked pulses.

Step 4: Add about 4 cups of water and let it boil in simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in salt, red chili powder and garam masala. Stir occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom.

Step 5: Roll the dough into large circles slightly thicker than rotis. Cut them into small 2“ squares or diamond shapes.

Step 6: Drop the dhoklis one by one in the dal while it is boiling making sure they don’t stick to each other.  If it is too thick, add some water, adjust salt and spices and let it cook in low heat for another 15 minutes or until the dhoklis are cooked.

Step 7: When done, turn off heat and mix coriander.

Step 8: Serve the dal dhokli in a soup bowl, squeeze few drops of lemon juice and drizzle generous drops of ghee and relish it when hot.

 TIPS:

* Amma added moong dal with husk to the recipe and I added groundnuts as it seems to be a common ingredient added in Gujarati recipe of dal dhokli.