Winning the bout against 'dal dhokli'

Although I am a good hand at cooking, I am disallowed from entering the kitchen because of all the noise and mess that I make. Even for something like a pizza or a grilled sandwich, I can make the kitchen look like a war-ravaged area.

But a week back, my parents were to attend a wedding in Ahmedabad and luckily, I wasn’t invited. I could now enter the kitchen unhindered. I decided to make my favourite Gujarati delicacy, dal dhokli.

The English translation of the dish is rather uninspiring — lentils tempered and served with savoury dumplings. Trust me, dal dhokli, is much tastier than that.

Ingredients
Tur dal, 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup
Gram flour (besan), 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder, 3/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder, 3/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida, 2 pinches
Oil, 1tbsp
Peanuts, 1.5tbsp
Kokum petals, 3
Jaggery, grated, 1.5tsp
Ghee, 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds, 1/2tsp
Cumin seeds 3/4 tsp
Whole dry red chillies, broken, 2
Curry leaves 6-8
Coriander leaves, chopped, 2 tbsp

I started with boiling the dal, adding right amount of turmeric and chilli powder and some salt till it was completely cooked.
The next round proved to be more challenging. I had to knead the dough to make the dumplings. I made a mess out of it. The dough wasn’t coming out well, so I added more water than required in the flour. I lost Round 2 and decided I was done for the day.

But I wasn’t going to give up. A day later, I got back into the ring (with metaphors like that, is it any wonder my kitchen looks like a war-ravaged area). This time, I went through Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe book thoroughly and got the exact measurement of the water to be added.

But this time, even before I could get to knead the dough, I overcooked the dal. The match was over before it could even start.
I realised how important it was to plan every stage meticulously. This was now a boxing bout between my chef-style ego and dal dhokli which seemed untameable.

I decided to call in some tactical support — my mom. First she was scandalised by the idea and asked if I was trying to impress some girl. But she did provide crucial inputs and I took down notes like a journalist should and went back the next day to the kitchen.

This time I started with kneading the dough. I poured water in the flour according to my mom’s measurements, added salt, turmeric, asafoetida, oil and mixed it. Kneading it was like a gym exercise to strengthen your forearms.

But the hardwork paid off. The dough finally looked good. I then flattened it into a thin oval layer. This is simple — after flattening the dough with a belan, take a bowl to give it shape. Next, I cut the thin layer into rectangular strips.

Now, it was time to make the dal. This was my third attempt, so it was like cakewalk. So the tur dal was put to boil in the pressure cooker with 1/4 tsp turmeric and salt and stirred till it became smooth.

Then I transferred the dal to a deep fry pan and it was time to add some tadka to it. First, I added chilli powder, salt, some more turmeric powder, kokam, peanuts and jaggery for the right taste and kept stirring it like a wannabe chef.

After heating for some time on medium flame, I added the dough strips with some style — I tossed it up in air, and straight into the dal. Needless to say the boiling dal splashed on my face and shirt.

To make the tadka, I heated some ghee in a pan, and added mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken dry red chillies, curry leaves and remaining asafoetida to it. I poured the tadka over the dal and simmered for five more minutes.

Finally, the match was won. I had defeated dal dhokli. I was satisfied, if not impressed with my work. Despite the messed up dough on day one, the burnt dal on day two, and my burnt face, and soiled t-shirt it was worth the effort. Dal dhokli had never tasted better.