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Dal Dhokli Reinvented: Try This Unique Twist On The Classic Gujarati Dish

Ever tried adding apples to your dal dhokli? In my household, we do, and this dish is here to dal-light you!

| Sakshi Haria
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When it comes to dals, each has a story simmering. If you visit ten different houses, you can taste ten different stories. And that is the beauty we often forget to notice about lentils.  

Every house has its favourite, its special, its own. And this one is one of the dishes I'd proudly like to patent for my aunt's house, and now mine. A combination so good that making it once a week feels less. 

On usual Sunday mornings, my mother and I rummage through our cookbooks and look out for that one perfect lunch, which'll be agreed by all, eaten by all and savoured by all. It's a rather difficult task, you see. And when my aunt taught me to cook Dal Dhokli, the usual way, but top it with apples, pomegranate and onions, the unusual way, it was a game-changer for me.

Being a Gujarati, this is a blueprint for comfort. So here's a reimagined version of the classic recipe of Dal Dhokli, often known as Indian pasta. Half love from my mother's wit and the other half, my aunt, all the way from Ahmedabad. 

Recipe Information

Prep TimeCook TimeAdditional Time
12 minutes20 minutes 3 minutes
Total TimeServingsYields
35 minutes3 peopleA hearty sunday lunch

Ingredients

For Dal:

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  • 1 large cup of Toor Dal (lentil) 
  • 3½ cups of water 
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp Asafoetida 
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 Cinnamon stick
  • 2 tbsp Peanuts
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 7-8 Curry leaves
  • 4 Kokums
  • 1 Tomato
  • Freshly chopped Coriander
  • 2 tbsp Jaggery
  • ½ tsp Tumeric 
  • 1 tsp Chilli powder
  • 1½ tsp Dhana-Jeera powder 
  • Salt

For Dhokli:

  • 1 cup of Wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • ¼ tsp Tumeric 
  • 1 tsp Dhana-Jeera powder
  • ½ tsp Ajwain seeds 
  • Salt

For Topping: 

  • 2 Lemons
  • 1 finely chopped Onion
  • 1 finely chopped Apple
  • Ghee

Preparation

For Dhokli: 

Step 1

Sieve 1 cup of wheat flour in a large container. 

Step 2

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Add oil, turmeric, dhana-jeera powder, salt according to taste and Ajwain seeds.

Step 3

Add water as per requirement.

Step 4

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Knead the dough properly. The end result should be a soft, spongy dough.

Step 5

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Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into 7-8 rotis.

Step 6

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Cut it at a crisscross angle, and you can see diamond shapes.

Step 7

Pluck all these diamond shapes and your dhoklis are ready!

For Boiling The Dal:

Step 1

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Take 1 large cup of toor dal. 

Step 2

Wash it 3-4 times under the tap.

Step 3

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In a pressure cooker, add the washed dal and 3½ cups of water. (Measure water till it reaches ⅓of your finger)

Step 4

Add turmeric and salt.

Step 5

Let it cook for 5-6 whistles.

Step 6

And it’s ready!   

For Dal: 

Step 1

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 Heat ghee and oil in a pan on medium flame.

Step 2

 After it’s heated enough, add cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, cloves and cinnamon.

Step 3

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Then, in a minute, add curry leaves, chillies and peanuts. 

Step 4

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Followed by tomatoes, coriander and Kokum.

Step 5

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After the oil starts separating itself, add your boiled daal and jaggery.

Step 6

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Add your masalas. The Holy Gujarati Trilogy: Turmeric, Dhana-Jeera and Chilli Powder.

Step 7

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Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes on high flame. 

Step 8

Taste it, and add salt accordingly.

Step 9

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Time to finally make the dal meet its dhokli! 

Step 10

Stir it well. Let it simmer for 6-7 minutes.

Step 11

And it’s savouring hour! 

For Topping:

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Step 1

Pour some dal dhokli in your bowl, with a proper portion of dal as well as dhokli.

Step 2

Squeeze half a lemon. If you like it as sour as me

Step 3

Enter the MVPs: Apple and Onion.

Step 4

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Taste for yourself, you can thank me later! 

From my mother to yours, from my love for it to yours, happy dal-digging! 

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