This is as traditional as it gets! A Sunday afternoon lazy lunch with piping hot dal-dhokli. Its a perfect combination of proteins and carbs or rather dal and roti, but all mixed into one dish…the Indian pasta as my cousins often call it! Just like pasta, this dish needs to be made on the spot and served hot to really relish it. What’s more it can be enjoyed as a one-pot dish or you can enjoy it with some steamed basmati rice too. Either way, this is one dish that grows on you and can be made as festive as you wish–with simple easy additions of broken cashew nuts, raisins and dried dates (kharek).

The simplicity of this dish, is what I love. It does call for planning, especially with its huge list of ingredients, but then again most Indian kitchens would find all these without much of an ado. The best way to have this dish is with a dollop of pure ghee, garnished with broken dry fruits, a squeeze of lemon, chopped coriander and onion.

Dal Dhokli 

Ingredients 

For the Dal

• 1.5 cups toovar dal (split pigeon pea)
• 1 tablespoon each oil and ghee
• 1/4 teaspoon each mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds
• 1 large kashmiri chillie
• 3 to 4 cloves
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon
• 1 bay lead
• 7 to 8 fresh curry leaves
• Lemon juice or citric acid crystals
• 2 tablespoons of jaggery or sugar substitute
• 1 teaspoon ginger-chillie-garlic paste (garlic is optional)
• 2 tablespoons peanuts
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chillie powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander-cumin powder
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1/4 cup of chopped dry dates, cashewnuts, raisins
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 3 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
• 2 tablespoons grated coconut
• Lemon

Method:

1. Wash the dal and add enough water, half the cloves, cinnamon, asafoetida and turmeric and pressure cook.
2. Once cooked, and cooled, blend using a hand blender and keep aside.
3. Now in a deep dish add the ghee and oil when its hot add the remaining dry spices, when it starts to sputter add the dal.
4. Once the dry spices and mixed with the dal add 1.5 cups  of water (3 if you like your dal dhokli to be soupy), the lemon, jaggery (if adding sugar free add just before serving), chillie-ginger-garlic mix and the peanuts. Let it simmer for a 10 minutes. Then add the salt, chillie powder and coriander-cumin powder.
5. Set aside when done and start working on the dhokli.

For the Dhokli

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chillie powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander-cumin powder
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 teaspoon oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients and knead the flour with water into a firm dough.

2.Divide the portion into 7 equal portions and roll out each portion into thin rotis

3. Cut the roti’s into diamond shapes and immerse into the boiling dal. This takes about 5 to 7 minutes to cook.

4. Add a dollop of pure ghee. Garnish with grated coconut, chopped coriander and chopped dry fruits and serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon. Those eating the sugar free version, should add the substitute at this point.

5. For a Jain preparation avoid the onions and garlic.