Daal… But Not as you Know it!

Here I come with another traditional Gujarati recipe for you! When I was little I was totally obsessed with pasta, I could have eaten it day in and day out. So, to satisfy my cravings for pasta my mum used to make this dish for the family. It is a simple Gujarati daal with a little twist- dhokri! Dhokri come in all forms, shapes and sizes (I will go into a little more detail about this later- using some recipes to illustrate to you what I mean!) However, for the purpose of this recipe, ‘dhokri’ simply refers to a type of Indian pasta made with chickpea flour, self raising flour and spices- delicious!

This warming daal is a self-contained meal for a lazy day, but also teams up perfectly with plain rice for a special dinner with your family and friends. I could eat it anytime of the day- the soft, spicy dhokri soaked in hot, sour daal along with delicate, sweet bursts of green peas is for me, the epitome of comfort food. So who needs minestrone when you can have daal dhokri with peas!?

Daal Dhokri with Mutter

Ingredients

1 cup tuver daal (or toor daal a.k.a. yellow split pigeon peas- the oily kind)
6 cups hot water
1 ½ tbsp’s ginger, minced
2 green chillies, minced
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp turmeric
½ cup peas
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp grated coconut

For Tempering (vaghar)

1 tbsp ghee
1 large piece cinnamon
5-6 curry leaves
¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
2 star anise
¼ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
Around 10 peanuts
Around 8 cashew nuts

For the Dhokri

1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 cup self raising flour (if you’re using plain flour add ¼ tsp baking powder)
½ tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp sugar (or to taste)
½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
½ tsp turmeric
1 small pinch ajwain seeds (info on this spice coming soon!)
Juice of ½ lemon and zest
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Hot water to bind this to firm dough

Method

1. Boil the tuver daal in the 6 cups water until you are able to pass it through a sieve. Pass all of this through a sieve into a large bowl/pan and set aside.

2. In a separate pan heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds (wait for them to pop), cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, peanuts, cashews, star anise and cinnamon.

3. Add the strained daal mixture, ginger, chillies, tomato puree, turmeric, lemon juice (and zest), cinnamon powder, salt and sugar. Allow to simmer while you make the dhokri.

4. In a bowl mix all of the ingredients for the dhokri and bind into a firm, smooth dough.

5. Divide into four portions and roll out (using extra plain flour) into something resembling a thick chapatti. Cut into diamond shapes (I used a pizza cutter… shortcut!).

6. Bring the daal to a rapid rolling boil and one by one drop in the diamond shaped dhokris. Repeat this process until you have run out of dough- but remember to keep the daal at a constant rolling boil. You may also need to add extra boiling water as it is likely to thicken while the dhokri is cooking- this is normal. Add the peas and boil for another 5-8 minutes and when you have done taste it to make sure you can taste hot, sweet and sour. Also check there is enough salt in the daal because of the extra water you may have added when boiling the dhokri.

7. Add the chopped coriander and grated coconut (optional) and serve.

Enjoy on its own or with rice- It tastes good with either! Also, all of this boiling softens all of the peanuts and cashews up, making them soft and almost creamy in texture when you bite into one! I love mine with a big dollop of cooling yogurt… Now get me a spoon, please!

I’m LOVING all of your recipes for the Create for a Chilli Chopper Competition- It’s going to be SO hard to pick a winner! Please do keep sending them in!

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