Hi everyone, welcome to mumnums. I’m so pleased to see you 😊
I remember as a very young girl, my mum making dahl dhokri, which is an amazing comfort food, it would probably be the equivalent of chicken soup.
The memories of her rolling out the dough for the dhokri and letting me pop the delicious diamonds into the simmering dahl are still so vivid in my mind that I can even smell the aromas that filled our tiny little kitchen so long ago.
It is still one of my go-to foods when I just want to curl up on the sofa, it will fill you up like a good hearty soup and you'll be wanting more even though you might have to open a few buttons to carry on eating 🤣
Try this delish Gujarati dish and leave me your thoughts.
Makes enough for 4-6. Prep time – 30 minutes, cooking time – 25-35 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
The Dahl:
2 cups tuver dahl (250g)
1 tin of tomatoes – blended (reserve ¼ tin for later)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric powder
¾ tsp ground cumin-coriander powder *
1½ tsp salt or less if you prefer
NOTE: * cumin-coriander powder is mixed together for most Indian recipes, its a blend of 3 parts coriander powder and 1 part cumin powder. These can be blended and stored.
The Dhokri:
1 cup of atta (120g) (chapatti flour)
½ cup gram flour (60g) (chickpea flour)
1 tbsp oil (sunflower, rapeseed or vegetable)
¼ cup of hand-hot water (60ml)
1 tsp salt
½-1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp ground cumin-coriander powder
½ tsp ajwain seeds
The Rest:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp asafoetida
1 dried chilli
a few curry leaves
1-inch ginger – minced/grated
2 green chillies - minced/grated
¼ tin tomatoes – ground
2 tsp jaggery (you can use molasses or brown sugar)
½ cup peanuts (65g) (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
A few sprigs of chopped coriander
Knob of butter (optional)
method
Wash the tuver dahl in a bowl a few times and leave to soak for about 30 mins
Once soaked check the level of dahl in the bowl, put the contents of the soaked dahl (including water) into a pressure cooker together with 2 more bowls of water to the same level as the dahl had soaked to.
Mix in the ¾ tin of tomatoes, cayenne, turmeric and cumin-coriander powder. Leave the salt to one side for now and we will mix it in later.
Pressure cook for approx. 12-15 minutes (check the time for your particular pressure cooker for beans/pulses) – I used the Ninja Foodi and had the timer at 12 minutes on high.
In the meantime, make the dough for the dhokri.
Mix the atta with the gram flour and throw in the salt and spices. Mix in the oil and water and form a dough. You are looking for a dough that can be rolled out without the need for extra flour, so quite stiff. Divide the dough into 6-8 small balls. Leave the dough covered with a clean damp tea towel for the time being.
Once tuver dahl is cooked add salt and blend to a smooth consistency – I used a stick blender, but any blender will do.
Heat the oil in a pan, put in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida and wait for them to crackle – I normally cover the pan and listen out for the crackling to stop.
Turn the heat right down, then throw in the dried chilli, curry leaves, ginger and green chillies, stir for about 30 seconds and mix in the tinned tomatoes, jaggery and peanuts.
Stir well for approx. 2 minutes, you will see the colour of the mixture darken.
Mix in the blended dahl and bring to the boil and turn off the heat and cover.
Roll out the dough balls as thinly as you can. TIP – Don’t use flour to stop the dough sticking, use a little oil on the board and rolling pin.
Once rolled out cut the dough into bite-size squares or diamond shapes and transfer to a separate plate.
Once all the dough is rolled out and cut, bring the dahl back to the boil, then turn down the heat so the dahl is simmering.
Quickly pop all the dough shapes into the simmering dahl one by one. Don’t put them all in at once or they will end up stuck together.
Simmer for a further 10-12 minutes and add the juice of half a lemon. Do a little taste test and add more salt and/or lemon if needed.
Serve hot with a garnish of chopped coriander.
You can mix in a knob of butter if you want a creamier texture.
TIPS
If you can’t have nuts, leave the peanuts out.
Make it vegan - leaving out the butter at the end of cooking makes this dish totally vegan - if you'd like a creamier texture, add vegan butter.
If the Dahl Dhokri is not eaten straight away, it may go quite thick, if this happens, add a little boiling water to loosen, you may need to add extra seasoning.
I hope you enjoy making dahl dhokri, let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and I will get back to you 😊
Happy Cooking and I hope to see you again soon 💖
See method in pictures below:
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