This was a few years ago; I remember it was Srujan’s post or story on Instagram where she talked about a few of her favourite food shows on Youtube, and Pasta Grannies was one of them. Since then, I have been hooked on this delightful documentation of Italian grannies making past from scratch. And somewhere through the episodes, I draw parallels with the range of Dhokli we have in regional Gujarati cuisine. If the sheer variety of accompanying sauces Pasta Grannies share makes red pasta sauce look mundane, the wide-ranging Dhokli in our repertoire makes the much loved Sunday special toor dal-dhokla look stodgy. Gujaratis enjoy Dhoklis in more ways than we have imagined; it is only that we have yet to list them.
Recently, after a very long time, our girl gang got together for dinner. A brief interaction with Manisha’s (host friend) neighbour Anjuben led to a fascinating discussion and an opportunity to document and share some popular yet unsung dishes of the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. As we chatted, Anjuben began popping out names of foods I had never eaten or heard of. And what seemed like a chit-chat stretched into a long conversation, and a plan to start documenting the non-tribal foods of Sabarkatha was hatched. Anjuben was a sport and immediately agreed to showcase and teach the dishes she mentioned; her spontaneity and willingness did surprise me. We fixed a date and got together to cook the first recipe – Mug ni Dal ni Chuteli Dhokli/ Green Mung Dal with plucked dhokli. Chutvu means to pluck/pull; small portion of dough is pulled-rolled-pressed to shape bindi-sized dhokli that is then cooked in green moong dal. Dhokli making is a collective affair where women gather and shape these tiny dhoklas. It is not just the making; eating this dhokli for lunch with the family on a Sunday afternoon makes it even more enjoyable. “This Dhokli is to be eaten as soon as it comes off the stove; it should never be reheated,” Anjuben gives clear instructions.
If I were to compare this with the regular Dal-Dhokli, this one, because of the addition of onion+tomato+garlic, has loud flavors, one that can wake you up on a lazy Sunday afternoon and then compel you to follow it up with a siesta.
Try it.
Recipes like these haven’t made it to any cookbooks, and the chatter and laughter we had while making it would never make it to any cooking show. Thriving kitchens are the best place to be, it is disheartening to more of us are choosing to be away from it.
Sharing the making of this in a YouTube video without editing the fun and insightful conversation we had while making this relatively quick dish.
Mug ni Dal ma Chuteli Dhokli
Ingredients
- For Dal
- 1/2 cup green moong dal/chotra wali mug ni dal
- 1/4 cup raw peanuts
- 2 onions
- 2 tomatoes
- 5-6 garlic cloves
- 2 green chilies (I have used mild chilies)
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons oil
- lemon wedges, to serve
- ghee to serve
- water as required
- For Dhokli
- 2 cups whole wheat flour/atta
- 1 teaspoon ajwain
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi
- 1 heaped teaspoon red chilli powder/marchu powder (adjust to your taste)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- salt to taste
- water to knead the dough
Instructions
Wash the dal, change water until it runs clear.
Soak the dal for an hour.
While the dal is soaking proceed to prepare the Dhoklis, for which we first knead the dough.
In a large mixing bowl or parat mix in the flour, turmeric, red chilli powder, ajwain, salt. Once the dry ingredients have been mixed well, add the oil. Rub the oil into the the flour so that the oil coats the flour.
Gradually begin to add water to bind the flour into a semi-stiff dough.
The dough does not need to be reseted, proceed to begin forming Dhoklis as shown in the trailing video.
Pinch/pull very small size of dough, shape it into a ball shape and press it using your index finger and thumb.
Continue on repeat until all the dough is shaped into bindi sized Dhoklis.
In large pressure cooker, add the dal, groundnuts and the hand formed Dhokli. Add water enough that it reaches two knuckleheads of your middle finger.
Pressure cook on medium high flame until one whistle. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally.
Simultaneously, prepare the tempering. In a chutney jar mince the ginger and green chillies.
Remove the minced ginger+chillies in a small katori.
Now in the same jar, add the chopped onion, tomato and garlic cloves and grind them to a coarse mix.
Place a kadai on medium-low flame, add oil. Once the oil heats up add the mince green chilli+ginger mix and saute for a minute.
Add the onion+tomato mix, saute for few minutes until the oil separates.
Add the turmeric, chilli powder to the onion mix and cook for a minute.
By now the pressure cooker would have cooled down. Open the cooker, give the dal-dhokli a stir and add the prepared onion masala to the cooked dal.
Now add water to adjust the consistency of the dal. We are looking for pouring but thick consistency of the dal.
Add salt to taste.
Bring the Dal-Dhokli to a boil, cook for couple of minutes and serve immediately.
The Mung ni Dal ma Chuteli Dhokli is enjoyed with a dollop of ghee and squirt of lemon juice.
It can also be eaten with rice.
Reheating this particular dal+dhokli is not recommended. So enjoy it just off the flame.
Notes
Making this Dhokli is a collective chore, it takes time so family members are welcome to share the task. This one is not the one with sour and sweet flavor balance, it has more of a dal fry taste to it.
3 Comments
Amulya Srinivasa
May 23, 2023 at 4:54 pmSo beautifully captured, looks mouth watering 😋
Will definitely give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
Rajni
February 9, 2024 at 9:36 amJust loved it… God bless…✨️🥰
Sheetal
February 17, 2024 at 11:23 amthank you