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
- 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.
- Soak the groundnuts in water.
- 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.
- Now after around 1-1/2 hr put the dal on to the pressure cooker to cook and then start rolling the chapattis.
- 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.
- Lightly knead the rested dough
- 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.
- 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.
- If you don’t have time 15 – 20 min of leaving it under a fan shall do. Generally, I leave it for an hour.
- Now once the cooker has cooled, churn the dal smooth with a hand blender. Keep the consistency watery as the dal will thicken later.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Now add the dhokli’s increasing the flame so the bubbling dal will keep the dhokli’s from settling down.
- Keep stirring lightly as you add. And after five min the dhokli’s should be soft.
- Lastly, make sure you add dhokli’s while you are just going to eat it.
- Taste one to check if it’s cooked. It should melt in your mouth. Garnish with coriander and relish it hot.
