‘Daal-Dhokli’ captures the essence of Gujarati food with its sweet, hot and tangy taste. The dish is also known as ‘Chikholya’ in Maharashtra, cooked with tamarind instead of dried kokam for souring agent.

Daal-Dhokli is the Indian counterpart of the Italian Pasta. Pasta is made in two parts – it has a sauce of your choice and pasta shapes freshly made from semolina or all purpose flour. The composition is just the same for Daal-Dhokli but the set of ingredients are entirely different.

The sauce here is a sweet-tangy Daal (lentil). Wheat flour dough is knead, rolled and cut into squares the size of ravioli. These squares are called ‘Dhokli’. Unlike pasta which is boiled before adding to the sauce, the Dhoklis are cooked in the Daal itself.

Let’s begin then.

Dough for the Dhoklis

2 cups of wheat flour for dough

½ cup of extra flour for rolling out

2 tsp oil

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Water as needed

1. Sift the wheat flour in a large plate. Make a well in the centre. Add all the ingredients and began mixing and kneading the dough. Go on adding little water as you knead the dough. The dough should be medium firm i.e. the same as paratha / puri dough and little softer than pasta dough
2. Once the dough is ready, wrap it with a cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Daal

This is the basic sweet Daal that comes in Gujarati thali.

1cup Toor daal (split pigeon peas)

2 cups of water

1 long Green Chilli spilt vertically in the centre

1 tsp Red Chilli powder

2 dried kokam

1/3^rd cup Jaggery

2-3 Curry leaves

2 tsp of finely cut Coriander leaves

½ inch of Ginger

1. Add water to daal and pressure cook it for 10-15 mins till the daal is fully cooked.
2. Mash the cooked daal finely and add it to a cooking vessel (don’t put it on the burner yet)
3. Add 4 cups of water and all the remaining ingredients, mix well and bring it to boil. Let it simmer as you prepare for tadka.

The Tempering / Tadka

3 tsp of Ghee ( oil is fine too but ghee tastes better)

½ tsp of Coriander seeds

½ tsp of Cumin seeds

½ tsp of Fenugreek seeds

½ inch Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1. Heat ghee on a low flame in tempering pan. Add other ingredients and wait till the coriander seeds crackle. Once the crackling sound reaches optimum, take it off the heat and add tadka to the boiling Daal.
2. Let the Daal cook on a low flame. While Daal is cooking let’s roll the dough and make Dhoklis

1. Remove the cling film and cut the dough in balls of equal portion- 3” diameter approximately
2. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface, put one ball on it and sprinkle some flour on the ball as well. Flatten it with a rolling pin. Keep sprinkling flour as needed else the dough will stick to the rolling pin or to the surface. Do not flip sides. Make the dough evenly thin.
3. With a knife, draw vertical and horizontal lines of 5-6 cms width on the flattened dough to get Dhokli squares.
4. Peel the squares off the surface and add them the boiling Daal. It will take around 2 minutes for Dhoklis to cook.
5. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough balls.
6. Once the Dhokli is cooked. Turn the heat off.

Sprinkle some coriander and Daal-Dhokli is ready to eat, you won’t need rice or bread to accompany it. This is my favourite meal when I am home alone  :-)

If you like Daal-Dhokli, try another variant – Daal-Dhokli with Fried dumplings

STUFFED DAL DHOKLI

(for 4-6 persons / time : 45 minutes)

1. Take a pan and add 1 tbl spoon oil.
2. Add finely chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add mashed potatoes and cook it for 5 minutes then remove from flame.
4. Take flour in a bowl, add salt and 1 tbl spoon oil and make dough.
5. Make 8 equal balls with dough and also with potato.
6. Take one ball of dough and stuff potato ball into it then make shape you like.

Making Dal…

1. Take a heavy bottom pan.
2. Add 2 tbl spoon oil in it.
3. Add musterd seed, when it splits then add fenugreek seed and cumin seeds.
4. Add finely chopped garlic and green chilies, fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add finely chopped tomatoes , fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add salt, red chili powder and turmeric powder, fry for a minute.
7. Add boiled dal and add 2 cups of water, when it boils, add dhokli and cook it for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from flame when dhoklis float in the pan, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Dal Dhokli over rice, served in a big bowl – with a spoonful of ghee on top. That was Harry’s dinner yesterday. The bowl plays a very crucial role here, it stops him from asking me about side dish or crisps to go with it ;) – which he would if this was served on a plate.

I made this first with toor dal (Red split lentils), it got over before I could take pictures. So this is second batch, made with Mung dal (toor dal got over!).

This is my version of dal dhokli, with veggies and all. I have adapted the recipe from here.

Ingredients: 

For Dal:

Mung dal/Toor dal : 1/2 cup
Carrot      : 1, diced or cut into rounds
Beans       : 5-8, cut into small pieces
Tomato   : 1, chopped
Peas          : 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
Water      : 2 cups

Tempering :

Onion     : 1 small, chopped
Ginger   : 1/2″ piece, chopped very fine
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Green Chillies : 1-2, chopped fine
Asafoetida : a pinch
Ghee     : 2 tsp

Lemon Juice : 2 tsp or to taste
Salt to taste

For Dhoklis

Whole wheat flour         : 1/2 cup
Besan/Chick pea flour : 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder          : 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder          : 1/2 tsp
Oil : 1 tsp
Water to make the dough
Salt to taste

Method : 

1. Mix the wheat flour, besan, chilli & turmeric powder and salt together in a bowl. Add water, little by little, and kneed into a slightly stiff dough. Add the oil, kneed again till its absorbed into the dough. Cover and keep aside.
2. Wash the dal (mung or toor dal, whichever you have). Add the diced carrots, peas, beans and tomatoes to it. Add two cups water and pressure cook everything together till the dal is cooked, 4-5 whistles.
3. Divide the dough into golf ball sized balls, roll into thin chapatis. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the dough into small diamond shapes.
4. Heat ghee in a big pan. Add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. Once it splutters, add the onions, ginger and chillies. When the onions turn brown, add the dal with the vegetables. When it comes to a boil, add the diamond shaped dhoklis to it. Cook for 10 minutes, till the dough is cooked through. You can add more water, in case the dal is too thick. Add salt and adjust seasonings per taste. You can add lemon juice, if you like.
5. Take cooked rice in a bowl, top with dal dhokli. Add a spoonful of ghee and serve.

Linked to Bookmarked Recipes- Every Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Hop  and My Legume Love Affair.