Dal Dhokli

Dal dhokli is a very traditional and popular Gujarati dish. Easy to make, wholesome food!

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 people

Dhoklis:

You will need:

1. Wheat Flour: 1 cup
2. Chickpea flour (besan): 2 tbsp
3. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
4. Red chilii powder: 1/2 tsp
5. Water: 1 cup
6. Oil: 1 tsp
7. Asafoetida/Hing: 1 pinch
8. Salt: according to taste

To cook:

• Mix all the ingredients along with the water to knead into a dough
• Roll the dough to make 3-4 chapatis 
• On a heated skilled, gently roast the chapatis until a few brown spots start to appear. The chapatis do not need to be completely done. Half baked is good enough!
• Now cut the chapatis into diamond/square shapes and keep them aside

Dal Dhokli

Dal 

You will need:

1. Toor dal: 1 cup
2. Peanuts: 1/4 cup
3. Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
4. Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
5. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
6. Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
7. Jaggery: 1 tbsp
8. Tamarind paste: 1 tsp
9. Curry leaves: 4-5 nos.
10. Green chillies: 2-3 nos.
11. Cilantro: for garnishing
12. Cooking Oil: 1 tbsp
13. Ghee: 1 tbsp (optional)
14. Hing/Asafoetida: a pinch
15. Salt to taste
16. Water

To cook: 

• Pressure cook the dal along with the peanuts and set them aside. 
• Once done, heat the oil/ghee in the cooker and add the mustard and cumin seeds along with the hing, turmeric powder and red chili powder.  Once the seeds start to splutter, add the green chillies.
• Now add the cooked peanut and dal along with the water. Then add salt, jaggery and the tamarind paste.
• Once the dal starts boiling, add the cut chapatis and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Make sure each chapati piece is added separately so as to avoid sticking or forming lumps. 
• Garnish with cilantro and some ghee on top! 

Tip:

For a quick meal, simply use frozen or leftover chapatis and add it any leftover dal, rasam or sambhar. 

Pigeon Peas Pulao - ತೊಗರಿಕಾಳು ಪುಲಾವ್

This is one quick and easy pulao that uses minimum ingredients and there's hardly any chopping/dicing involved.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2 people
 
You will need:

1. Rice: 1 cup - thoroughly washed
2. Pigeon Peas / Toovar lilva /  ತೊಗರಿಕಾಳು (fresh/frozen) : 100 gms
3. Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
4. Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
5. Cloves: 4 nos.
6. Cardamom: 4 nos.
7. Bay leaves: 1-2 nos.
8. Curry leaves - 3-4 nos.
9. Green chillies: 3-4 nos.
10. Turmeric powder
11. Asafoetida / Hing
12. Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp
13. Salt
14. Coriander: to garnish

To cook:

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds.
• Once the seeds start popping, add ingredients (nos 3-9)
• After the spices give out a nice aroma, add in the pigeon peas and mix well
• Add the rice now and stir this for about 1 minute
• Add 1 cup of water (the rice to water ratio should ideally be 1:1) and salt. Mix well.
• Close the pressure cook lid and let it cook until you get a couple of whistles. 
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot with some ghee on top!

Pigeon Peas Pulao

Tip:

• Increase the quantity of water (preferably more than 2X rice) and add whole black peppers - et voila.. pigeon peas khichdi!
• If you can't find pigeon peas, add green peas instead plus a pinch of red chilli powder for an extra kick!