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Garlicky Spicy Dal Dhokli

Boiled thick wheat flour noodles (dhokli) in a spicy garlicky pigeon pea stew (dal).
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Ingredients for Boiled Dal

  • ¾ cup Split pigeon peas lentils (Toor Dal) washed and soaked in warm water for 20-30 minutes
  • 2 cup Water

Dhokli Dough

  • cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 2 tsp Ajwain Carom Seeds
  • 2 tsp Dhana Jiru
  • ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Oil
  • ¾ cup water more or less as required

Additional Ingredients for making Dal

  • 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 2 tsp Grated Ginger
  • 2 tsp Chopped Thai Green Chilis or jalapeños or serranos
  • 3 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 2 tbsp Dhana Jiru
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 9 cup Water

Tempering Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp Oil
  • 1 Serrano or Jalapeno sliced
  • 2 big cloves Garlic sliced, of small use 3-4 cloves

Garnishing

  • 2 tbsp Lime Juice
  • ½ cup Chopped Cilantro

Instructions

Boil Toor Dal

  • Wash toor dal thoroughly, specially if you have the oily version. Soak it in warm water for 20-30 minutes.
  • Pressure cook it with 2 cups of water by doing 5 whistles in Indian Pressure Cooker.
  • If using IP, Set instant pot on high pressure setting and cook it for 12 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and release rest of the pressure manually.
  • Once boiled keep it aside.

Dhokli Dough

  • While toor dal is cooking, start making dhokli dough.
  • In a wide bowl, take all dough ingredients listed above except water and mix it well.
    dough ingredients
  • Start adding little water at a time and kneed the dough. Usually 2 cups of flour takes one cup of water to make a soft dough. Once the dough is formed, add 2 tbsp of peanut oil and kneed it for a minute or two. It makes the dough softer and smoother. Cover it and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.
    dhokli dough
  • Make 8 even dough balls for the dhokli.
    dhokli dough balls
  • Roll each dough ball with the help of dry flour like wheat flour or rice flour.
    roll1
  • Make 10" to 12" big rotis. It should not be too thick.
    roll2
  • Cook rolled roties on a big flat tawa for 10 seconds on each side. This step is unusual for dhokli recipe. But I like to partially cook dhoklis before I add them to the dal. It helps dhokli not stick together when you add it to the boiling dal and it does not lump up together.
    partial cook
  • Roll all 8 rotis and partially cook them.
    all cooked
  • Once all the rotis are rolled and cooked. Cut them into diamond shapes using either kitchen shears, knife or pizza cutter. Cover cut dhoklis and keep them aside
    cut

Assemble dal dhokli together

  • Add all the additional ingredients listed above except for water for "Additional Ingredients for making Dal" in the cooked dal and use a handy mixer to mix it all together very well.
    dal ingredients
  • Add 9 cups of water and use a handy mixer again to mix it all together very well. It will seem very watery but once you boil with dhokli, it will thicken up.
  • Bring the dal to boil keeping it on saute mode.
  • Once the dal is boiling, slowly add few cut dhoklis at a time to the dal. Keep mixing it while adding the dhokli.
    with water
  • Bring it to boil again keeping Indian pressure cooker on medium heat or IP on saute mode.
  • While the dal dhokli is boiling, prepare for tempering.

Temper Dal Dhokli

  • Take ¼ cup of peanut oil in a small pan and heat it up.
  • Once the oil is hot, add sliced garlic and slices serrano/jalapeños to hot oil. Keep cooking garlic and serrano on medium heat until the garlic turns golden brown. Do not burn it.
  • Add the tempering to the dal dhokli. Mix it very well.
  • Keep boiling the dal dhokli for another 5 minutes. Turn of the heat and and cover it for additional 5 minutes.
  • Uncover the dal dhokli, garnish it with chopped cilantro and lemon juice. Mix it carefully making sure the dhokli does not break.
  • Serve it hot with some drizzled oil on top and side of onions, papad and wedge of lemon!