Dal Dhokli – A Gujju Special

Dal Dhokli needs no particular reason to be special. Piping hot dal dhokli freshly served, is perfect for winter weekend lunch at home. It has all the goodness of home-made food with a sweet-spicy taste and is a complete meal.

Ingredients

  • For the Dhokli
  • 250 gms Of Wheat Flour
  • 150 gms Of Gram Flour
  • 2 Tsp Coriander Cumin Powder
  • 2 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 1 Pinch Asafoetida
  • 2 Tbsp Oil
  • Salt to Taste
  • Water to Knead Dough
  • For the Dal
  • 4 Open Fistful of Tur Dal
  • 1 Tomato
  • 1 Pinch Asafoetida
  • Salt to Taste
  • For the Tadka
  • 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 7-8 Curry Leaves
  • 1 Pinch Asafoetida
  • 3 Green Chillies Big Chopped
  • 2-3 Slices of Ginger
  • 1 Tbsp of Groundnuts
  • 1 Tbsp Pulp of Soaked Imli (Tamarind)
  • 2 Tbsp of Rough Chopped Jaggery
  • Coriander Leaves
  • Oil

Preparation

Prep: 30 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes


  1. Start with washing the dal thoroughly and then let it soak (soaking time 1 – 1.5 hours). I generally take one open fistful of dal for one person and then add one fistful extra.
  2. Soak the groundnuts in water.
  3. Now we knead the dhokli dough. Here for the dholki, I consider roughly 2-3 chappatis per person. So add the wheat flour and gram flour to a 60-40 ratio sufficient for around 10-11 chapattis.  Add all the ingredients for the dhokli in a bowl and slowly start to knead the dough to a firm consistency like we do to make chapattis. Work the dough nicely and then let it rest.
  4. Now after around 1-1/2 hr put the dal on to the pressure cooker to cook and then start rolling the chapattis.
  5. Wash the dal and then along with the water, add salt, sliced tomato, and a little turmeric to it. Cook in the pressure cooker and after 4 whistles take it off the burner.
  6. Lightly knead the rested dough
  7. Roll the chapattis (2mm thick) and lightly roast both sides on the pan, keeping it soft. The roast makes the dhokli a little firm when you drop it into the dal and prevents it from sticking to each other.
  8. Now cut the chapattis into small kite-shaped pieces which is the dhokli and spread those pieces on a newspaper under the fan. This removes the moisture and thus the dhokla is ready to absorb the dal.
  9. If you don’t have time 15 – 20 min of leaving it under a fan shall do. Generally, I leave it for an hour.
  10. Now once the cooker has cooled, churn the dal smooth with a hand blender. Keep the consistency watery as the dal will thicken later.
  11. Now we temper the dal. In a big vessel add oil. For the tadka, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric, asafoetida, groundnuts and stir for a minute.
  12. Now add a ladle of dal, red chilli powder and coriander-cumin powder and give it a nice stir. Leave it on a slow flame for 3-4 min so that the oil gets all the flavour and groundnuts to get a little cooked. Keep stirring.
  13. Now add the rest of the dal. Add the tamarind paste and jaggery pieces. Give the dal a boil and reduce the flame. Check the spice and adjust the salt. The dal should have a sweet-sour and spicy taste and should be of watery consistency as it will thicken once we add the dhokli.
  14. Now add the dhokli’s increasing the flame so the bubbling dal will keep the dhokli’s from settling down.
  15. Keep stirring lightly as you add. And after five min the dhokli’s should be soft.
  16. Lastly, make sure you add dhokli’s while you are just going to eat it.
  17. Taste one to check if it’s cooked. It should melt in your mouth. Garnish with coriander and relish it hot.

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