Rajasthani Dal Dhokli

Blogging Marathon#64: Week 3/ Day 1 Theme: Wholewheat Dishes Dish: Dal Dhokli We are starting our 3rd week of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Wholewheat Dishes'. For the first day I made a hearty and comforting dish popular in both Gujarat and Rajasthan, Dal Dhokli. This has been on my list of dishes to try for a very long time and finally got a chance to try it out.
Dal dhokli is a filling one pot meal where dhoklis aka Indian style wheat pasta :-) are simmered in dal until cooked through. From what I read, Rajasthani version is slightly spicier than Gujarati version. I tried the spicy version and it was amazing, both my kids loved it too. I told them this how close an Indian dish can get to Italian pasta and they were very happy to try.
I followed Manjula's recipe to the T and loved how it turned out. I was a little worried that the dough would get soggy after boiling, but they were cooked perfectly and tasted great. One thing to keep in mind is to let dal start boiling before adding the dhoklis otherwise they might clump up and get soggy.
Recipe from Manjula's Desi Fiesta:
Dal Dhokli Ingredients:

For Dhokli:
• 1cup Wheat flour/ Atta
• ½~1tsp Red Chili powder (adjust as per taste)
• ¼tsp Turmeric
• ½tsp Ground cumin
• ½tsp Carom seeds
• 1tbsp Oil
• To taste Salt
For Dal:
• ½cup Toor Dal
• ½tsp Mustard seeds
• ½tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 Medium Tomato, chopped
• 1tsp Red Chili powder
• ½tsp Turmeric
• ½tsp Ground Coriander
• ½tsp Ground Cumin
• ⅛tsp Asafoetida/ Hing
• 8~10 Curry leaves
• 1tbsp Oil
• To taste Salt
For Serving:
• As needed Onion, finely chopped
• As needed Cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 Lemon
• As needed Thin Sev

Method:

1. Make Dhokli: In a medium bowl, combine wheat flour, red chili powder, turmeric, carom seeds, ground cumin, oil and salt. Add just enough water to make a stiff and smooth dough.
2. Divide the dough into small balls and flatten them into discs making sure to keep the thickness even. Place the dhokli on a plate and keep covered with a clean kitchen towel until ready to use.
3. Make Dal: Pressure cook dal until tender and mushy.
4. Heat oil in a saucepan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida; when the seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and tomato. Cook till the tomato turns mushy.
5. Add red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and turmeric. Mix well and add the cooked dal and enough water to get a thin consistency.
6. Season with salt and bring the dal to a boil.
7. Once the dal is boiling, gently add the dhoklis, lower the heat to a simmer and cook dhoklis for 15~20 minutes or until cooked through. To check if the dhoklis are cooked, remove one from the dal and cut it, if still raw in the middle, simmer a little longer, if it looks cooked, then it's done.
8. Serve warm with chopped cilantro, onions, sev and lemon juice.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 64.