Dal Dhokli (Dal With Spiced Wheat Flour Dumplings) Recipe

Dal dhokil seems like a heat hug on the finish of the day. Should you grew up in a Gujarati or Rajasthani house, likelihood is this was an everyday a part of your loved ones’s meal rotation, simmering slowly on the range, filling he entire home with the aroma of dal, spices, and recent wheat dough. My mother made it for me every time I wished, and at this time, it is nonetheless one thing I make every time I’ve leftover dal or sambar, a South Indian lentil stew. It is each deeply comforting and splendidly sensible: You take one thing so simple as dal and stretching it into a whole, satisfying meal that cooks virtually solely in a single pot. Consider it like an Indian lasagna soup, however vegetarian, and leaning on spices as an alternative of meat for depth of taste.

The great thing about dal dhokli, as in lots of Gujarati dishes, is in its steadiness of candy and bitter flavors: Jaggery, a form of cane sugar widespread in Indian cooking, provides simply the correct quantity of sweetness, whereas tamarind gives a shiny tang. Collectively, these candy and bitter flavors maintain the dal from feeling too heavy. You may at all times alter it to style, including extra jaggery if you would like it a little bit softer and mellower, and extra tamarind in order for you a sharper kick.

The dhokli themselves are like little hand-cut pasta sheets produced from entire wheat flour and typically chickpea flour. You roll the dough skinny, minimize it into diamonds or squares, and drop the items instantly into the effervescent dal the place they soften and absorb all that taste. The dough is seasoned with turmeric, chili powder, and ajwain—tiny, ridged carom seeds with a thyme- and oregano-like aroma and heat, peppery chew—so each chew of dhokli brings its personal hit of spice and earthiness.

This dish can be an effective way to present leftover yellow dal new life. Should you’ve bought some within the fridge, simply whisk in a little bit additional water to loosen it till it is skinny and soupy, then season with recent tadka (spice-infused oil), and alter with jaggery and tamarind earlier than including your dhokli. It is a intelligent, resourceful method to ensure nothing goes to waste, and actually, dal’s taste is usually even higher the second time round.

As for which dal works finest, toor dal (pigeon peas) is the traditional alternative. It has a creamy texture and a gentle taste that is superb for carrying the spices’ flavors with out overpowering them. That mentioned, moong dal or a mixture of dals can be utilized if that is what you have got readily available. Every offers the dish a barely completely different character, however all of them work superbly.

And like many Indian consolation meals, dal dhokli has its regional twists. Within the western Indian state of Gujarat, the dal is nice and tangy. In northwestern Rajasthan, the flavors are spicy and sharp, with little to no sweetness. In Maharashtra, house to the town of Mumbai, an identical model known as varan phal is ready: It is spicier and fewer candy, although, in fact, that may be adjusted to non-public desire. Every model is scrumptious in its personal method, and all of them carry the identical essence: dal remodeled into one thing heartier, with flat pasta-like dumplings that make it a meal in itself. Slightly dal—whether or not leftover or freshly made—some flour, and you have got a nourishing and satisfying dinner that is good for darkish winter months.