Childhood memories are not complete without food. “Do you remember how you loved this?” is a question that is frequently asked in discussions with family and friends. The next step is to talk about the past and the good times.

One such dish that I enjoy is dal dhokli, a simple stewed stew with a diamond-shaped cross dipped in it. It is a nutritious meal for Gujarati families, as well as a delicious and tasty meal. The same dish can be made on its own, or with rice or porridge as a accompaniment.

As children, we used to go home after our evening games, trying to imagine what was cooking in the kitchen. The sound of dal dhokli and the smell of home-made ghee would have spread throughout the house. The porridge of roasted porridge, crushed and mixed with chilli flour and a little oil, can add to the emotional mix.

With dal dhokli, I have burned my tongue many times, since my eyes ignore the rising steam and do not want to wait for it to cool down, I burn my tongue but satisfy my mouth.

Rich history

In the days of the pigs, we did not know the history of this dish, which dates back to the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan. Apparently, it was made by a brilliant royal chef who wanted to provide a delicious, nutritious meal for the queen when there were no vegetables around. So she collected herbs, spices, leftover spices, and dal to make a nutritious and delicious meal. Who knew then that this dish would be so popular to produce several varieties?

Where dal dhokli has a strong place in the families of Gujarati and Rajasthani, in Maharashtra, it is sent as varan phal or chakolya. In Marathi, ‘varan’ means dal and ‘phal’ in dumplings of wheat or dhokli. Variations of recipes are in the spice. Varan phal is known for its use of goda masala, a mixture of coriander seeds, sesame seeds, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, chillies and dried coconut, among others. The traditional Gujarati dal dhokli has jaggery, lemon juice, cinnamon and clove due to its tongue aroma.

Even each house has its own distinctions. We are in the mine, we always add nuts to increase, many are known to add cashews. Kokum and coconut are some of the things that some people try with.

When it comes to spices, while most families prefer to use all the spices, some like mine prefer masala. In time, I learned that our secret was the tea, which contained cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and dried ginger.

What we also did was cook half of the wheat flour before starting. This was usually done so that the evening running time could not fall short of the delicious dinner activities. What we did after that was irritating the dal and cutting the rotis into a diamond shape before allowing them to blend in with the quality.

Many varieties

Another way to reduce the amount of time we spent in our home was to cook a lot for thieves that morning. So, while some were used for lunch, the rest were kept at dal dhokli in the evening. Many of the remaining dal plates were used as follows.

Bread also has its differences. Some are made with wheat flour mixed with turmeric, chilli flour and dhania-jeera flour, while others add besan or chickpea flour. The leaves have also found their place in other recipes with potatoes stuffed with dorks.

No matter what you do, here are some tips to keep in mind. Allow the water to settle. As soon as you add the dock, the water will get wet. Also, the consistency should be similar to that of soup or stew. Only add a docket in the last section. If this is cooked too much, you will have a sticky paste, instead of dal dhokli bright and delicious.

Add herbs and spices from your mouth. All you know is, you can make your own brand new. Ghee is a choice. However, it is highly recommended because it gives a fresh taste to the dish.

Sunday Secret

Ingredients

For the port

1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp dania-jeera powder

1 tbsp oil

Water binding

For dal

Ho cup salt

1½ cup water

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp dania-jeera crack

1 tsp ghee

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Curry leaves

Handfuls of nuts

Imu lemons

Pinch of hing / asafoetida

A small piece of jaggery

½ tsp garam masala or chai masala

Salt to taste

Coriander to decorate

Way

1. Mix all the dough ingredients and tie the dough together. Allow to rest for half an hour.

2. Wipe the dough like rotis and burn it on fire, without oil. Cut into diamond-shaped pieces.

3. Next, boil or force the cooking dish.

4. Pour the ghee into a deep pan, and place the mustard seeds, cumin and reeds. Next, serve the nuts and curry leaves.

5. Add this to the dish along with the water and leave to ripen.

6. Add turmeric, dhania-jeera powder, chilli powder and garam masala / tea masala. Garam masala can be replaced with all spices such as cardamom, cinnamon sticks and cloves.

7. When the dal mixture starts to boil, add the lemon juice, jaggery and salt.

8. Add in the dock and let it simmer until the pieces are a little soft.

9. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

The author is a digital marketing expert, who loves words, data and everything

in the middle.