Dal Dhokli is actually flour dumplings in lentil curry. So it has the goodness of dal (cooked lentil) and is filling at the same time. Ideally its served as main course dinner dish. Now, each Indian household has different variations of the dish. You could add or remove a few ingredients without really affecting the quality of taste i.e. it might taste, but it’ll still be good.  

Serves 4 to 6.

Image Source

Ingredients for Dal :

2 cups toovar or arhar dal

8-10 cups water

1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds

1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds

1/2 tea spoon chopped green chillies

1/4 tea spoon asafoetida powder

6-8 curry leaves (optional)

1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder

1/2 tea spoon red chili powder

1 medium sized tomato chopped (optional)

3 table spoons jaggery

2 table spoons tamarind pulp or lemon juice

[For the tamarind pulp, soak 3-4 dried tamarind in water for about four hours. Then de-seed and grind. Sieve the extract to get thick pulp. Keep aside in a non-metallic container. ]

Ingredients for the Dhokli Dough :

1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)

a pinch of turmeric powder

1/2 cup finely chopped fenugreek (meethi) or spinach (palak) leaves (optional)

a pinch of salt

1/2 tea spoon red chilli powder

water for binding

How to proceed :

1. Put all the dry ingredients of the dough in a bowl and mix. Now add enough water to make soft dough. Knead well. Apply a few drops of oil and knead again. Cover and keep aside.

2. Wash and pressure cook the dal in 4 cups of water. When cooked properly, cool a bit. Now blend using a hand blender till it’s smooth.

2. Heat oil in a vessel and add cumin and mustard seeds into it. When seeds start spluttering, add asafoetida  powder, chopped green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, red chili powder. After a few seconds, add chopped tomatoes. Fry them properly.

3. Now add the boiled dal, 4-5 cups water, salt to taste, jaggery and tamarind pulp. Keep boiling the dal on medium flame.

4.Now roll out chapattis of the dough. Roast the chapatti on both sides for a few seconds and cool. (Stick to a few seconds. Be careful not to over do the time.) This keeps the pieces separate while boiling in the dal. Cut the chapattis into 1 inch squares (The pieces of chapatti are called dhoklis). Add to the boiling dal and cook for about 15 minutes.

(Add water to get desired consistency of dal, as it tends to thicken after the dhoklis are added.)

5.Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.