Dal Dhokli

Dal dhokli is a sunday morning delight in most traditional Gujarati households! A perfect combination of spiced whole wheat flour dhoklis simmered in gujarati dal, this can be classified as a sumptuous one-dish meal, but you could also serve it with rice to make it all the more tasty and wholesome. When served with rice, you bring in all the staples in just one dish:rice, roti and dal! Just remember to simmer the dhokli in dal just before serving, or else it will turn soggy.

Ingredients

For the dal

Split pigeon peas (tuvar dal) 2 cups

Oil to temper

Curry Leaves 

Peanuts 3 tbsp

Bay Leaves 1-2

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Asafoetida

Cloves, Cinnamon, whole Black Pepper

Green Chilli, finely chopped 

Tomato 1 medium, diced

Turmeric powder, Red Chilli Powder, Salt, Sugar, Lime Juice

Cilantro to garnish

For the Dhokli

Whole wheat flour 2 cups

Red Chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Asafoetida

Carrom seeds 1 tsp

Salt

Oil to knead the flour

Method

Boil the dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker till the dal is tender. Mash it completely and keep aside.

In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients of the dhokli except oil and water. Mix everything well, add 2 tbsp. oil and make a crumbly mixture. Next add water as per requirement and knead a stiff dough. Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.

In a deep pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Next add the curry leaves, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and peanuts. Once the peanuts start to become brown, add green chilli and tomato. Once the tomatoes are slightly soft, add the mashed dal and 1 cup water. The mixture should be watery as the dhoklis will absorb most of the water while getting cooked. Add salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste and let the dal simmer.

Take the dhokli dough and divide it into balls of equal size. Lightly oil the working surface and roll out the dhoklis to circles of about 3-4mm thickness. Using a knife or pizza cutter cut out squares or rectangles of all the dhoklis. Add all the dhoklis together to the dal to ensure they cook at the same time! In case the dhokli absorbs all the water, add some more hot water to the dal dhokli. Simmer on medium flame till the dhoklis are tender. 

Once the dhoklis are cooked, adjust the salt, sugar and lime juice depending on the amount of water added. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with Phulka roti or steamed rice.

Variations: To get the sweet and tangy taste, sugar can be substituted with jaggery and lime juice with kokam or imli. Whatever you can get your hands on!

Cheats

If you want to roll out the dough at an early time and make the dish during lunchtime, here is a way: Make the dal as per the recipe above. Roll out the dhoklis and slightly cook them on the tava without any oil. Cut them and keep them ready to be put into the dal. When you are ready to make the dish, simmer the dal and drop in these cut dhoklis. This way they cook faster and do not become too soggy too soon!!

Another cheater way to do the same if you are too bored to roll out the dhoklis would be to buy thepla from any Indian store, cut it and drop the cut dhoklis into simmering dal!!