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Dal dhokli recipe
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Dal Dhokli recipe

Dal dhokli recipe is one of the most popular and delicious one-pot meal made by simmering spiced wheat flour dumplings in a lentil-based seasoned curry.
Prep Time10 mins
Active Time30 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Lentils, Main Course
Cuisine: Gujarati
Keyword: Dal dhokli recipe
Yield: 4
Calories: 365kcal

Materials

For making Dal:

  • 1 cup Toor/Arhar dal Split pigeon pea
  • 2.5 cups Water
  • 1 tsp Oil
  • ¼ tsp Turmeric powder/ Haldi
  • 2 - 3 tbsp Peanuts Sengdana

For making Dhokli:

  • 1 cup Wheat flour/ Atta
  • 2 tbsp Besan/ roasted Bengal gram flour
  • ¼ tsp Turmeric powder/ Haldi
  • ½ tsp Red chilli powder/ Lal mirch powder
  • 1 tsp Carom seeds/ Ajwain
  • ½ tsp Salt or as per taste
  • Water to knead a soft dough

For tempering Dal (Dal tadka):

  • 2 - 3 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tsp Mustard seeds / Rai
  • 1 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
  • 10 - 12 Curry leaves You can use fresh or dry curry leaves
  • Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
  • 2 Dried red chillies
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped Garlic
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped Ginger
  • 2 Tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder/ Lal mirch powder
  • 1 tsp Coriander powder/ Dhaniya powder
  • ¼ tsp Cumin powder
  • Salt as per taste
  • 2.5 - 3 cups water or as needed to adjust consistency
  • 1 tbsp Jaggery or as per taste
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice Freshly squeezed lemon juice

For Garnishing:

  • 1 tbsp Ghee or clarified powder
  • Fresh coriander leaves finely chopped

Instructions

How to pressure cook Dal:

  • Rinse, twice or thrice, a cup of toor or arhar dal under running water until water runs clear.
    At this stage, you can soak the dal for half an hour. But, I skip soaking and cook directly.
  • Transfer the rinsed and/or soaked dal into the pressure cooker with 2.5 cups of water.
  • Add ¼ tsp of haldi & a tsp of oil in the cooker.
  • Now, take a small steel bowl or katori, and add 2 tbsp of peanuts and place the katori in the cooker.
    Dal & peanuts both will be boiled and cooked simultaneously. Using katori helps to separate peanuts easily.
  • Pressure cook the dal for 3 to 4 whistles or until the dal is softened.
  • Turn off the heat, let the pressure settle down naturally and keep aside the boiled peanuts. With the help of the whisk, mash the cooked dal to smooth consistency.

How to make dhokli dough and cutting in dhokli in shape:

  • In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, besan, haldi, red chilli powder, salt and oil.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients together and crumble with your fingers.
  • Add enough water to knead a soft & smooth dough. Cover & let it sit for 15 to 20 mins. Till then start tempering the cooked dal.
  • After 20 mins, divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
  • With the help of a rolling pin, roll 1 dough portion in a large & thin chapati (flatbread).
  • Now, cut the rolled dough into diamond shape or any shape of your choice.

How to prepare tempering (tadka) for dal:

  • In a thick wide bottom kadhai or pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry curry leaves, hing & dry red chillies.
  • Saute on medium flame, until mustard and cumin seeds crackle.
  • Then, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and tomatoes. And saute on medium flame until tomatoes turn soft & mushy.
  • When tomatoes are cooked, add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Saute all the dry spices with the tomatoes.
  • When the masala is cooked well with tomatoes, oil releases from the sides, then add in cooked and mashed toor dal.
  • Mix all the ingredients nicely until everything is combined well.
  • Then add 2 - 3 cups of water along with the boiled peanuts, jaggery and lemon juice.
  • Mix all the ingredients well and cover & cook on medium flame, so that the flavours and aroma from masala combine with dal.
  • Once the dal starts boiling, gently slide the diamond-shaped dhokli's in the dal. Give it a nice & gentle mix. Make sure not to mash the dhokli.
  • Cook on low-medium flame for 10 -12 minutes or until the dhokli is cooked well.
  • Lastly, add chopped fresh coriander leaves and give it a nice mix. At this stage, taste dal dhokli and adjust the spices as per your liking.
  • Finally, serve delicious dal dhokli with onion salad on the sides.

Notes

Few tips for making dal dhokli:
 
  • To make it vegan, you can skip adding ghee while serving. Or you can use butter if you wish.
  • You can omit garlic to make it no onion no garlic recipe. 
  • While cooking, add enough water and balance the spices because it turns thick when left for too long.
  • The consistency of dal dhokli should be very thin or runny because when you add dumplings it absorbs enough water, making dal dhokli very lumpy.
  • Lastly, I would never recommend storing or refrigerating the cooked dal dhokli for next day. It becomes lumpy and stick to each other and tastes not so good.