¾ cup oily or dry toover dal (split pigeon peas), uncooked
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Small (golf ball size) piece of jaggary or 3 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of coriander and cumin powder)
1 teaspoon or to taste finely chopped or minced jalapeno or serrano chili
½ teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 medium tomato, diced
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
For Dhokali:
1 cup chapatti or whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ajwain seeds
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon asafetida
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Water as needed to make dough
For Tempering (Vaghar):
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
⅛ teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of asafetida
5 to 6 curry leaves
1 whole dry red chili (optional)
Pinch of red chili powder (optional)
Directions
Wash split pigeon peas few times. For oily dal make sure all the oil is washed off. Soak in about 1 ½ cups of water for 1 to 2 hours or until peas are soft in a medium size soup pot. (Soaking is optional but it will speed up cooking process).
Add diced tomato. Cover with a lid and cook it with water on a medium heat until peas are very soft, about one hour.
While dal is cooking, make dhokli dough. Combine flour, oil, salt and dry spices in a mixing bowl with hands. Gradually add water and knead into firm and smooth dough. Cover with a plate or a kitchen towel and let it rest 30 to 40 minutes. After dough is rested divide into four equal portions and roll into balls.
Once the dal is cooked, take off the heat and add ½ cup of water and mix it with a whisk or an immersion blender until it has a consistency of slightly thick soup. Start heating the dal on medium heat. Add salt, turmeric, dhana-jeeru, green chili, ginger and let it simmer on low heat or a simmer burner.
While dal is simmering, flatten a dough ball on to a smooth cutting board and roll out into a thin circle (as thin as pasta sheet). Cut dough into 2 inch squares or diamonds. If some pieces are small it’s fine. Drop the pieces one by one into simmering dal and stir with dal. Increase heat to medium high and let dal come to boil so dough pieces can cook. Repeat the process with remaining dough balls. If dal starts to boil over, reduce heat to medium. Let dal-dhokli simmer for 12 to 15 minutes and then add jaggery or sugar and lemon juice, stir dal-dhokli. Keep it simmering on low heat.
To cook dal-dhokali in Instant Pot: Follow step 1 but instead of soup pot use insert pot of instant pot. Add diced tomato and cook dal on pressure cooker setting for 25 minutes. For unsoaked dal increase time to 35 minutes. Once dal is cooked, release steam. Add ½ cup of water and mix it with a whisk or an immersion blender until it has a consistency of slightly thick soup. Start heating the dal on sauté setting. Set it for 30 minutes. Add salt, turmeric, dhana-jeeru, green chili, ginger and let it simmer. Follow step 5. Ignore the temperature changes as temperature in Instant pot remains constant. If dal starts to boil over change setting to keep warm setting for few minutes.
Prepare Vaghar: In a separate small heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat oil on medium high heat until shimmering. Add fenugreek seeds and let it sizzle. Lower the heat, add mustard and cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add asafetida, curry leaves, red chili and chili powder. Pour oil with everything over dal. Mix it with dal-dhokli and let it simmer for two to three minutes. Garnish with cilantro before serving. Serve warm. Can be served over rice. You can also add ½ cup vegetables like green beans, green peas or beans like black-eyed peas to simmering dal to make it one pot meal.
Recipe by Lovely Masala at http://www.lovelymasala.com/dal-dhokli/