One-Pot Wonders

Lentil Pasta - Dal Dhokli

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February 23, 2012
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Lentil Pasta - Dal Dhokli
Photo by PistachioDoughnut
  • Serves 2 to 4
Author Notes

One of my favorite dish. This dish is so common and authentic to Gujarati culture but yet not famous or well known amongst others. It is proper home cooked meal not found in restaurants. No one could make this dish, the way my neighbor aunty Geeta used to make every Sunday. It is one dish with two different components which is so fulfilling. Although , my mom got the recipe from her but it does not turn out the same way. I guess, its all in her hands not the ingredients or method. She used to make it every Sunday , unlike other days of week when she would make our staple food "Thali" which would have Subji (Vegetable dish), Roti , Dal and Chawal (Rice) with salad, papad or pickle. And, not only will she make it but I was invited every Sunday to enjoy her "Dal Dhokli" and passing on this recipe to you all. Hope you enjoy it as much I did! —Devangi Raval

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the pasta - we call it chapati
  • 1.5 cups Whole wheat Flour
  • 2 tablespoons Oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon Red Chilli
  • 1 teaspoon Coriander-cumin powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
  • Water to knead dough
  • Dal Gravy or base for the pasta
  • 1/2 cup Dry yellow colored Toovar Dal, thoroughly rinsed and soaked in water for about 2 hours
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 Tomato diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
  • 2 to 3 Dates (if you find the dry dates use either those or regular dates) chopped
  • a handfuls Raw Peanuts
  • 1 tablespoon Oil for tadka
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds for tempering
  • 1 tablespoon Jaggery
  • Pinch Asafoetida
  • 1.5 teaspoons Green chilli - ginger paste
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic chopped or paste
  • 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
  • Cilantro to garnish
Directions
  1. For the pasta - we call it chapati
  2. Take WW flour, salt, red chilli powder, CC powder and turmeric powder ,add oil to it and by adding little by little water knead dough out of it.
  3. Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth.
  4. Once the dal is done , we will be rolling it out and make pasta.
  1. Dal Gravy or base for the pasta
  2. Take dal, water, tomato , turmeric and boil it in pressure cooker for about 4 to 5 whistles. If not using pressure cooker then it should take about 30 minutes to boil the dal on covered pot with same ingredients.
  3. Meanwhile, if you are using dry dates then take dates and peanuts in a tbsp of water and cook them for little while in microwave just enough to soften them. If you are using regular dates then it is Ok if you do not cook them in microwave. Once done keep them aside.
  4. By now the dal should have boiled, so take the dal mixture and blend it with the help of blender. There should be no beans seen , it should be soup like in look. You can add additional water if you want.
  5. For the Tadka - Take oil/ghee in a pan on medium heat , add mustard seeds let them crackle, once they pop add asafoetida, green chilli-ginger paste , garlic and remove from heat and add this tadka to the dal mixture.
  6. Now, take the tadka dal mixture on medium heat and add enough water because of dal it thickens quickly. Simmer it for about 10 minutes, add the Jaggery, dates and peanuts which we had already softened a little bit in microwave.
  7. While this mixture is simmering , it is time to roll out the pasta. So take the dough which was resting.Divide into equal parts. Roll out big rounds out of each dough balls.
  8. Once you have big rounds rolled out, cut them with the help of a pizza cutter or knife into medium sized diamonds or squares. Use flour to keep them from sticking.
  9. Once you have all the pasta cut out and add it to the simmering dal mixture. Keep stirring it once in while so that the pasta does not stick to each other as they tend to stick if not stirred occasionally. But be careful not to break the pasta.
  10. Simmer it for some time about 15 minutes or so , till you feel the pasta is cooked and there is enough thick gravy. Add, lemon juice and garnish it coriander leaves and remove from heat.
  11. The dal mixture tends to thicken a lot when left, so you can add enough water as required. It should not be too runny or too thick.
  12. Usually, we serve it hot off the stove as I mentioned it thickens a quite a bit. Serve it with a dollop of ghee or groundnut oil or any regular oil you might be using but no butter along with cucumber, tomato and onion relish and papad.
  13. Once, we are through eating it this way , we do like to enjoy it with some plain cooked rice.
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