Dal Dhokli

Its September and already quite windy and cold. The weather fluctuates and often it’s a task to keep in good spirits in such gloomy weather.V and I prefer to have a bowl of hot steamy soup in the evenings. My soup vocab has expanded considerably due to this new chore. However I wanted something that would be filling, in liquid consistency. Browsing for such a recipe Tarla Dalal’s recipe for Dal dhokli caught my interest and was a grand success and and is a complete meal as well.

Ingredients:

For the Dhokli:

Wheat flour 1 cup
Red chilli powder ½ tsp
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Asafoetida ½ tsp
Carom seeds ¼ tsp
Salt to taste and Oil
Spinach/Methi / coriander finely chopped: optional


For the Dal:

Toor Dal: 2 cups
Ginger: ½ tsp grated
Green chilles: 4 slited
Tomatoes: 1 finely chopped
Peanuts: 2 teaspoons
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Jaggery: 3-4 tsp
Turmeric: ½ tsp
Red chilli powder: ½ tsp
Coccum :2-4 pieces
Salt to taste

For the tempering:

Rai/mustard seeds: ¼ tsp
Jeera/ cumin seeds: ¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds: a few
Curry leaves: approximately
Cloves, cinnamon,boriya mirchi: 2 each
Bay leaf: 1
Asafoetida: ¼ tsp
Ghee: 2 tablespoons
Oil: 1 tablespoon

What to do:

Dhoklis: Mix the ingredients and make dough like for chapatti. You can add finely chopped methi/ palak or corriander to the dough if you like. Roll into circles like chapatti and just put on a hot girdle for a few seconds. Cut into square shaped pieces. The slight warming of the chapattis is important so the dhoklis do not stick in the stew.

The Dal: cook the toor dal and add finely chopped ginger, tomatoes, greenchilles, peanuts, coccum. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder. Boil the dal well. Add the tempering and tamarind pulp and lemon juice. Add the salt and jaggery.

How to serve:
When the dal is boiling hot add the dhokli and cook for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with coriander and add ghee while serving. One can also add finely chopped banana.