Dal dhokli recipe | Traditional Gujarati Dal dhokli
Dal dhokli recipe is one of the most popular and delicious one-pot meal made by simmering spiced wheat flour dumplings in a lentil-based seasoned curry. This hearty dish comes from western states of India, especially, Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is served mostly in lunch as a whole meal with spiced onion salad on a side dish.
A bowl full of delicious ‘Dal Dhokli’ satisfies all types of cravings. It is sweet, tangy, spicy, and this tummy-filling dish is high in protein and has a good amount of carbs. When drizzled with a dollop of ghee and lemon juice makes for comfort food during any day of the year.
This scrumptious, wholesome, nutritious, and gratifying one-pot meal ‘Dal Dhokli’ can be served as it is. Or it can also be served as a side dish along with some jeera rice or paratha.
What is Dal Dhokli?
Dal dhokli is a spicy, tangy and sweet lentil soup made by cooking toor/arhar dal (pigeon pea lentil) and tempering it with the tanginess of tomato and sweetness of jaggery. Further, adding the raw diamond-shaped dumplings made from spiced wheat dough.
Boiling the masala dough in the sweet & tangy Gujarati dal gives a soup-like consistency with pasta-like texture and crunchiness of peanuts.
I personally like to have it fresh and hot. Garnished with finely chopped onions and freshly chopped coriander leaves, adds a nice crunch to every bite. It takes the taste to a whole new level.
It is made with simple basic ingredients available in our kitchen. If you live outside India, you can easily get all the ingredients in any Asian supermarket or grocery store available in your local area.
Variations in Dal Dhokli
- To make it Vegan, you can skip adding ghee while serving and instead you can use any nutty butter.
- To make it Jain (no onion, no garlic) compatible, completely skip the garlic.
- For making Rajasthani version of dal dhokli, skip adding jaggery or sugar. This increases its spice level.
- Also, you can add whole spices like bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon while pressure cooking dal. It adds a different taste to dal dhokli. And it is also great for immunity during winters.
- Traditionally, dal dhokli was made using only toor/ arhar dal. But alternatively, you can also use split yellow moong dal or masoor dal for making dal dhokli.
How to serve Dal Dhokli?
- I highly recommend enjoying a hot bowl of freshly cooked Dal dhokli. Garnish it with finely chopped onions and handful of fresh cilantro leaves. Lastly, a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I am already drooling 🤤 while writing this blog.
- It tastes even rich and super delicious when served with a dollop of homemade ghee on hot dal dhokli.
- You can even use spiced onion salad on sides along with papad.
Traditionally, Dal dhokli was made with the leftover dal from the previous day. As my Dadi (grandmom) says, in the old days, they did not have an option for online food delivery neither there were restaurants. They had to cook every single meal for 365 days. So, on hot days or when they wanted to take a break from hours of cooking, they use to cook extra batch of dal the previous day. It helps a lot by saving a lot of time.
The best thing is it is a wholesome meal and does not require any other items to be cooked. So, if you have cooked dal ready in your hands, you just have to prepare the tadka and knead the dough. That’s it!! No need to cook the roti or chapati. The meal gets ready within half an hour.
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Dal Dhokli Recipe Card
Dal Dhokli recipe
Materials
For making Dal:
- 1 cup Toor/Arhar dal Split pigeon pea
- 2.5 cups Water
- 1 tsp Oil
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder/ Haldi
- 2 - 3 tbsp Peanuts Sengdana
For making Dhokli:
- 1 cup Wheat flour/ Atta
- 2 tbsp Besan/ roasted Bengal gram flour
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder/ Haldi
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder/ Lal mirch powder
- 1 tsp Carom seeds/ Ajwain
- ½ tsp Salt or as per taste
- Water to knead a soft dough
For tempering Dal (Dal tadka):
- 2 - 3 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds / Rai
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
- 10 - 12 Curry leaves You can use fresh or dry curry leaves
- Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
- 2 Dried red chillies
- 1 tbsp finely chopped Garlic
- 1 tbsp finely chopped Ginger
- 2 Tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder/ Lal mirch powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder/ Dhaniya powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin powder
- Salt as per taste
- 2.5 - 3 cups water or as needed to adjust consistency
- 1 tbsp Jaggery or as per taste
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice Freshly squeezed lemon juice
For Garnishing:
- 1 tbsp Ghee or clarified powder
- Fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
How to pressure cook Dal:
- Rinse, twice or thrice, a cup of toor or arhar dal under running water until water runs clear.At this stage, you can soak the dal for half an hour. But, I skip soaking and cook directly.
- Transfer the rinsed and/or soaked dal into the pressure cooker with 2.5 cups of water.
- Add ¼ tsp of haldi & a tsp of oil in the cooker.
- Now, take a small steel bowl or katori, and add 2 tbsp of peanuts and place the katori in the cooker. Dal & peanuts both will be boiled and cooked simultaneously. Using katori helps to separate peanuts easily.
- Pressure cook the dal for 3 to 4 whistles or until the dal is softened.
- Turn off the heat, let the pressure settle down naturally and keep aside the boiled peanuts. With the help of the whisk, mash the cooked dal to smooth consistency.
How to make dhokli dough and cutting in dhokli in shape:
- In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, besan, haldi, red chilli powder, salt and oil.
- Mix all the dry ingredients together and crumble with your fingers.
- Add enough water to knead a soft & smooth dough. Cover & let it sit for 15 to 20 mins. Till then start tempering the cooked dal.
- After 20 mins, divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
- With the help of a rolling pin, roll 1 dough portion in a large & thin chapati (flatbread).
- Now, cut the rolled dough into diamond shape or any shape of your choice.
How to prepare tempering (tadka) for dal:
- In a thick wide bottom kadhai or pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry curry leaves, hing & dry red chillies.
- Saute on medium flame, until mustard and cumin seeds crackle.
- Then, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and tomatoes. And saute on medium flame until tomatoes turn soft & mushy.
- When tomatoes are cooked, add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Saute all the dry spices with the tomatoes.
- When the masala is cooked well with tomatoes, oil releases from the sides, then add in cooked and mashed toor dal.
- Mix all the ingredients nicely until everything is combined well.
- Then add 2 - 3 cups of water along with the boiled peanuts, jaggery and lemon juice.
- Mix all the ingredients well and cover & cook on medium flame, so that the flavours and aroma from masala combine with dal.
- Once the dal starts boiling, gently slide the diamond-shaped dhokli's in the dal. Give it a nice & gentle mix. Make sure not to mash the dhokli.
- Cook on low-medium flame for 10 -12 minutes or until the dhokli is cooked well.
- Lastly, add chopped fresh coriander leaves and give it a nice mix. At this stage, taste dal dhokli and adjust the spices as per your liking.
- Finally, serve delicious dal dhokli with onion salad on the sides.
Notes
- To make it vegan, you can skip adding ghee while serving. Or you can use butter if you wish.
- You can omit garlic to make it no onion no garlic recipe.
- While cooking, add enough water and balance the spices because it turns thick when left for too long.
- The consistency of dal dhokli should be very thin or runny because when you add dumplings it absorbs enough water, making dal dhokli very lumpy.
- Lastly, I would never recommend storing or refrigerating the cooked dal dhokli for next day. It becomes lumpy and stick to each other and tastes not so good.
Step by step Instructions:
How to pressure cook Dal:
Rinse, twice or thrice, a cup of toor or arhar dal under running water until water runs clear.
At this stage, you can soak the dal for half an hour. But, I skip soaking and cook directly.
Transfer the rinsed and/or soaked dal into the pressure cooker with 2.5 cups of water.
Add ¼ tsp of haldi & a tsp of oil in the cooker.
Now, take a small steel bowl or Katori, and add 2 tbsp of peanuts and place the Katori in the cooker.
Dal & peanuts both will be boiled and cooked simultaneously. Using Katori helps to separate peanuts easily.
Pressure cook the dal for 3 to 4 whistles or until the dal is softened.
Turn off the heat, let the pressure settle down naturally and keep aside the boiled peanuts. With the help of the whisk, mash the cooked dal to smooth consistency.
How to make dhokli dough and cutting in dhokli in shape:
In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, besan, haldi, red chilli powder, salt and oil.
Mix all the dry ingredients together and crumble with your fingers.
Add enough water to knead a soft & smooth dough. Cover & let it sit for 15 to 20 mins. Till then start tempering the cooked dal.
After 20 mins, divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
With the help of a rolling pin, roll 1 dough portion in a large & thin chapati (flatbread).
Now, cut the rolled dough into diamond shape or any shape of your choice.
How to prepare tempering (tadka) for dal:
In a thick wide bottom kadhai or pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry curry leaves, hing & dry red chillies.
Saute on medium flame, until mustard and cumin seeds crackle.
Then, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and tomatoes. And saute on medium flame until tomatoes turn soft & mushy.
When tomatoes are cooked, add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Saute all the dry spices with the tomatoes.
When the masala is cooked well with tomatoes, oil releases from the sides, then add in cooked and mashed toor dal.
Mix all the ingredients nicely until everything is combined well.
Then add 2 – 3 cups of water along with the boiled peanuts, jaggery and lemon juice.
Mix all the ingredients well and cover & cook on medium flame, so that the flavours and aroma from masala combine with dal.
Once the dal starts boiling, gently slide the diamond-shaped dhokli’s in the dal. Give it a nice & gentle mix. Make sure not to mash the dhokli.
Cook on low-medium flame for 10 -12 minutes or until the dhokli is cooked well.
Lastly, add chopped fresh coriander leaves and give it a nice mix. At this stage, taste dal dhokli and adjust the spices as per your liking.
- Finally, serve delicious dal dhokli with onion salad on the sides.
Important tips to make dal dhokli:
- Add enough water when boiling dal with tadka and balance the spices because it turns thick when left for too long.
- The consistency of dal dhokli should be very thin or runny because when you add dumplings it absorbs enough water, making dal dhokli very lumpy.
- If you like sour taste, you can use tamarind paste/pulp or even kokum pieces to get that flavour.
- Lastly, I would never recommend storing or refrigerating the cooked dal dhokli for next day. It becomes lumpy and stick to each other and tastes not so good.
Finally, I would like to share my other veg Curry recipes from my blog. This includes Dum aloo recipe, Paneer kadhai recipe, Mushroom kadhai gravy recipe, Matar Jhol recipe, spicy misal pav recipe, matar ke chole recipe, etc. Also, go through our Indian bread section for a variety of rotis like Butter naan recipe, palak paratha recipe, kachori recipes and thalipeeth recipe. In addition to this, do visit my other recipes collection from my blog like Main course collection, Breakfast collection, Desserts collection, etc.
Did you try this recipe?
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