Recipes · Indian · Main Courses

Dal Dhokli (Gujarati Lentils with Spiced Wheat Dumplings)

One serving has 651 kcal and 24 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of manganese (230%), copper (122%), folate (80%), selenium (76%), magnesium (73%) and phosphorus (70%). Ready in 65 minutes.

• Preparation: 20 min
• Cooking: 45 min
• Makes: 1 serving (706 g)
• Difficulty: Medium
• Diets: Vegan, Dairy-free
• Contains: gluten, mustard, peanut

Ingredients

• 45 g Toor dal (split pigeon peas)
• 450 g Water (for the dal)
• 55 g Whole-wheat flour (atta)
• 8 g Gram flour (besan)
• 0.5 g Ajwain (carom seeds)
• 1 g Turmeric (for the dough and the dal)
• 1 g Red chilli powder (for the dough and the dal)
• 14 g Vegetable oil (in the dough and for tempering)
• 30 g Water (for the dough)
• 15 g Peanuts, raw
• 50 g Tomato, chopped
• 4 g Ginger, grated
• 4 g Green chilli, chopped
• 8 g Jaggery (or brown sugar)
• 10 g Lemon juice
• 1 g Mustard seeds
• 1 g Cumin seeds
• 0.3 g Cloves
• 0.5 g Cinnamon stick
• 0.2 g Bay leaf
• 1 g Dried red chilli
• 1 g Salt
• 5 g Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1. Wash the toor dal and simmer it in 250 ml of the water for 30-35 minutes (or 3 whistles in a pressure cooker) until completely soft. Whisk it smooth, then stir in the rest of the water: it should be thin, like a soup.
2. Meanwhile make the dhokli dough: mix the whole-wheat flour, gram flour, ajwain, half the turmeric and chilli powder, a pinch of the salt and a teaspoon of the oil, then knead in the water a little at a time into a firm, smooth dough. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.
3. Roll the dough out thinly, about 2 mm, into a round, and cut it into diamonds about 4 cm across.
4. Heat the rest of the oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and dried chilli, and when the seeds crackle add the peanuts and fry for 1 minute. Add the ginger, green chilli and tomato and cook for 3 minutes, then pour in the dal with the rest of the turmeric and chilli powder, the jaggery and salt.
5. Bring the dal to a rolling boil and drop in the dhokli a few at a time, stirring so they don't stick together. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the dhokli are cooked through (cut one: no raw dough in the middle) and the dal has thickened.
6. Stir in the lemon juice, taste: Gujarati dal is sweet, sour and hot at once. Ladle into a deep bowl and scatter with coriander. Eat it hot, as a one-bowl meal.

Nutrition per serving

Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.

Climate footprint

0.3 kg CO2e a serving: lower than most main dishes on SustainBite. Source: ADEME, Agribalyse 3.2.

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