Chakolya/Phal Varan/Daal Dhokli

Helloooooooo everybody out there. Yes, yes...I know this space has been stagnant for quite some time now. But I have been super busy these couple of months. We visited India almost after 3.5 years. I was very excited about the trip and spent most of my time in shopping for family and friends. We had a great time at home except for the heat. It was unbearable and we had to spend our days sitting in coolers and air conditioners. The main attraction of the trip were "Mangoes", to be specific "Hapoos Amba". We had missed that so much in U.S all these years and that was a perfect season to consume them. I don't remember a single day spent without eating "Amba" or "Aamras".

Anyways, so back to this post. After returning from India I was engaged in setting up our new apartment. So, now you know, these last few months were full of packing, unpacking, moving and repacking. But now that I have settled completely I am back to the blogging world which I have missed so closely.

I am back with this one pot dish which is called Chakolya or Phal Varan in Marathi. It is also popularly known as Daal Dhokli in Gujrati. It's one of my favourites when hubby does not have to take lunch. Ofcourse, its far better than making Maggie. This dish has to be eaten hot, right from the stove. It's basically small dumplings of atta or dough cooked in dal/varan/lentil soup. To make this you would need the following -

For the dhokli
1) 1/2 cup wheat flour
2) 1/2 tspn turmeric and chilli powder each
3) salt to taste
4) Oil and Water

For the Dal
1) 1 cup cooked toovar dal
2) 1/2 tspn mustard seeds, cumind seeds each
3) a pinch of asafoetida
4) 1/2 tspn turmeric powder
5) 1 tspn red chilli powder or according to taste. (I used kolhapuri masala)
6) 3-4 curry leaves
7) 1 tspn ginger/garlic paste
8) 1 small onion chopped
9) Oil for tempering
10) Salt to taste
11) 3 cups Water

Method -
1) Knead together all the ingredients for the dough and keep it aside covered for some time.
2) During this time make the dal. Heat oil in a kadhai and do the tempering. Add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle add the cumin seeds.
3) Add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Stir and add in the curry leaves.
4) Now add onions and saute for few minutes.
5) Add ginger/garlic paste and saute for some more time.
6) Now add the cooked dal and water and mix well.
7) Add salt and red chilli powder/Kolhapuri Masala and bring it to a boil.
8) Till the dal is boiling take a fairly large ball of dough. Larger than chapati/roti ball and roll it like chapati.
9) Now with a knife cut the rolled dough ball horizontally and vertically making small square shaped pieces.
10) Add these pieces or dumpling in the boiling dal. Cover it and let it cook for sometime.
You will notice that the dumplings become larger than their original size after they are cooked.
Your daal dhokli is ready. Take out in a bowl and serve. To make it more flavourful add 1 tspn of ghee and Enjoy!!!

This dish is so heartfilling and tasty. You can make the dal as your taste. You can add any other masala to it but make sure it is on a liquidy side because the dhokli/dumplings are enlarged once they are cooked.
Now, sit back and Enjoy this steaming hot dish.