Dal Dhokli

“Dal Dhokli” … a delicious one pot meal that is made by adding in wheat flour dumplings into spiced tuvar dal … preparing this dish after a long time, added grated carrots for a change to make it healthier and served it with phulkas/ chapati … Yummilicious … 

** Dal Dhokli is a traditional one pot meal from northern parts of India specially from Gujarat abd Rajastan, the same even is included in Maharashtrian state too. In all this is delicious and easily prepared dish that tastes great during dinner time. You can serve it as it is or with rice or roti too as is done in many places though the dish does not really required them as it is as I mentioned a one pot meal. Again this dish can be prepared with tuvar/ toor/ tur dal or moong dal too. Wheat flour with or without spices is prepared into a tight dough, rolled into a slightly thicker textured roti than that of chapati, cut into square or triangular pieces and then added to the simmering spiced dal and cooked till done. This dish should be served steaming hot as it tastes best that way and loses taste on cooling down. 

** It has been ages since I prepared this dish, somehow I just missed out on it for sometime, though a few years back I did prepare it with moong dal to which I added wheat dumplings prepared with methid leaves and it tasted wonderful, but somehow I could not click pictures due to some guests who dropped in suddenly and I did not feel like doing so in front of them as I need my space when I do my blog works. Today being Ekadashi, we do not eat rice or rice dishes in my home, so when I just asked hubby what to cook, he casully said dal dhokla kari, meaning prepare dal dhokli dish. Well, that’s it here is, I have kept it simple as this is my first post on this dish which can be prepared with many twists which I will be posting soon. So do keep a keen watch on my blog for more similar dishes and enjoy them with your family. 

** Here is my one simple method of preparing “Dal Dhokli” …. 

** Ingredients for the Dal : 

Tuvar Dal/ Tori Dali/ Arhar Dal : 1 cup 

Tomato : 1 medium sized 

Carrot : 1 small sized grated (Optional)

Coriander Leaves/ Kottambari Pallo/ Dhania : handful finely chopped. 

Lemon/ Limbiyo/ Nimboo Juice : 1 tblsp (1/2 lemon) 

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste 

** For Tempering/ Seasoning : 

Oil/ Tel : 1 tblsp 

Ghee/ Toop : 2 tblsp 

Mustard Seeds/ Sasam/ Rai : 1 tsp 

Green Chillies/ Hari Mirchi/ Tarni Mirsangi : 2 medium sized 

Ginger/ Alle’/ Adrak : 1 inch piece grated. 

Hing/ Asafoetida Powder : ½ to 1 tsp 

Turmeric/ Haldi Powder : ½ tsp 

Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 8-10 fresh leaves 

Dhania/ Kothimbir/ Coriander Powder : 1 tsp 

Cumin/ Jeera Powder : ½ tsp 

Garam Masala Powder : ½ tsp 

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 1 tsp 

** For preparing the Wheat Flour Dough : 

Wheat Flour/ Atta/ Chapati Peeta : 1 cup 

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste 

Oil/ Tel : ½ tsp 

Water : as needed. 

** To prepare the Dal : Wash the tur dal well in plenty of water, you can soak it for 10-15 minutes if desired or proceed immediately too. The dal gets cooked and there will be no issues if not soaked, however some people prefer to soak, its entirely upto you, I do not. Put it in pressure cooker pan with about 2.5 to 3 cups of water and pressure cook on medium flame to 4-5 whistle or till cooked very well, just like how we cook for preparing of dal. 

** Once the pressure in the cooker falls down, open the lid and mash the dal well with a churner/ masher to a smooth paste and keep it aside ready. Do not add any water. 

** Wash, wipe clean and chop the tomato to small sized pieces and keep it aside ready. 

** In a wide bowl add in the wheat flour, salt, oil and mix well till you get a crumble texture. Now add water little by little and keep kneading into a tight dough. Do not add all water in one go or it may turn soft. Cover and keep it aside ready for about 15-20 minutes. 

** In a thick bottomed kadai add in ghee and oil together, when hot add in mustard seed and when they begin to crackle add in finely chopped green chillies, hing powder, turmeric powder, grated ginger, curry leaves and fry for a minute. 

** Now add coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, red chilly powder and stir for a few seconds, do not allow it to get burned. Now add in the chopped tomatoes, sprinkle some water if needed only and stir fry for a minute. 

** Add in the churned dal, ½ to 1 cup of water, salt to taste and mix well, if you find the dal too thick, you can add in more water, but do not make the dal too thin in consistency, you can add in water later on if necessary as after adding the wheat dumplings too it gets thickened. 

** Allow the dal to simmer, while you roll the wheat dough. Just roll the required amount of wheat dough into a round chapati slightly thicker than the normal roti. Cut it with a serrated knife or disc or with knife into desired sized pieces. Do not make the pieces too big. 

** Add the cut pieces into the simmering dal and allow to cook, do not stir, just cook on low to medium heat. The wheat dumplings/ pieces will get cooked within a few minutes, now gently give a stir, add in the grated carrots and bring to boil increasing the heat for a few minutes.

** Remove from fire and add in finely chopped coriander leaves, lemon juice and a tsp of ghee. Cover and keep it aside for 30 minutes for the dish to absorb the flavors well and get thickened on its own. While serving check consistency and add in hot water if needed. 

** “Dal Dhokli” is done and ready to be served. Remember to serve it hot with any other dishes of your choice like roti or rice. In my home we prefer to have it with roti if served for lunch and as it is if it is for dinner. This is a one pot meal and can be relished as it is. 

** You can also add in any veggies or sprouts of your choice too. You can also prepare stuffed dumplings and add them to the dal too, the choices and variations in preparation of this dish is many and I will be posting them as and when I try them out. Do try them out and enjoy with your family and friends.