Dal Dhokli / Pasta in Lentil soup Indian Style

Consider this as a totally authentic pasta dish not coming from Italy but from heart of India, Gujarat. Fresh pasta simmered in tasty, spicy and aromatic lentil soup, slice of heaven served on plate. The wholesomeness of whole wheat flour and protein rich lentils make this dish extra special.
Gujaraties are well-known for their love of food and the range of dishes which are unique in itself and this dish comes as a proof of it.
Some people describe dal dhokli as a pasta-like dish as I do, but the practice of dropping everyday bread dough into a simmering pot, puts it in the dumpling category too. So its upto you to pick your choice.
This is a one pot dish and a favorite in Gujarat as a Holiday evening dish.
Happy Cooking.

Ingredients :

For Gujarati Dal:
1/2 cup toor dal/arhaar dal/split pigeon peas, pressure cooked/boiled and crushed/churned
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
10-12 curry leaves
2 small round red chillies (boriya)/dry red chillies
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1 tbs oil
2 tbs peanuts
8 pieces cocum, soaked/2 tbs lemon juice (I used lemon juice)
3 to 4 tbs jaggery (gur)/ sugar
1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
4 green chillies, slit
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp grated ginger
salt to taste
Handful of freshly chopped coriander leaves/cilantro for garnishing

For Dhokli:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp asafoetida (hing)
2 tbs oil
1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
salt to taste

Method :

Preparing Dhokli-
Mix the atta, ajwain, chili powder, salt, turmeric powder oil, asafoetida, oil and add enough water to it to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into 8 equal sized portions and roll out the dough, cut it into square or diamond shaped pieces, separate the individual pieces and keep aside on a large tray to dry out.




Preparing Dal-Dhokli-
In a large and deep pan, heat the oil, and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add peanuts, cumin seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, red chillies and finally add the cooked dal.
Add the slit green chillies, grated ginger, turmeric powder, red chili powder, jaggery and lemon juice and plenty of water (around 4 cups).
Add Salt to taste.
Bring it to a boil.

Add the dhokli pieces to the dal and cook it for a few minutes on medium heat until the dal starts to thicken and the dhoklis have softened and cooked. I usually add dhoklis and pressure cook them for 1 whistle.
Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

Tips :
Serve hot with a dollop of ghee, thats the traditional way of enjoying dal dholki.
Dal dhokli can be prepared using left over gujarati dal, just add 2-2 1/2 cups of water to left over dal and bring it to a boil, adjust the spices if necessary, add in dhoklis and pressure cook for 1 whistle or till dhoklis are cooked.
Prepare double recipe of dhokli and freeze half of it in Ziploc bags for future use. Time saving hmmm!!! so that next time I only need to make some dal and drop in the dhoklis.
In case you have leftover dal dhokli, reheat it with a little water to thin it out.

Mafia Style Veggie Pasta

Well its funny to call it mafia style veggie pasta but I have perfect nice explanation for that, this recipe is inspired from a Sicilian recipe for somewhere on net (Sicily being famous as mafia-country), I designed this dish to be hot and spicy in honor of the great mafia. I promise its a "taste bud kicker".
This recipe is all about chili, I've used green chillies, capsicum, chili sauce and red chili flakes. Have also given it a slight dash of fresh ground black pepper, fresh chopped ginger & garlic, these ingredients give nice aroma and appetizing taste to this dish but remember its all about the chilies. Cheers.

Ingredients :
2 cups cooked pasta of your choice.
1 medium sized Capsicum, I used green capsicum, chopped into chunks
1 medium sized Onion, chopped into chunks
1 medium-large sized Tomato, you guessed it right chopped into chunks
2 green chillies chopped
2 pods of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 inch ginger thinly sliced
2 tbs chili sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red chili flakes/ 1/4th tsp red chili powder
salt to taste
2 tbs olive oil

Method :
Heat olive oil in heavy bottom pan, add ginger, chillies and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds and add in onions. Saute for a minute and add in capsicum, after a minute add in chilli sauce, ground black pepper, salt and chilli flakes. Saute for 30 more seconds and add in tomatoes. Saute till tomatoes are cooked.
Now toss in cooked pasta and garnish it with dried parsley leaves and/or any herbs preferred.



Tips :
Toss in any kind of chili eg. capers or jalapeno or different coloured capsicum like red or yellow.

Saucy Spicy Pasta

How should I put it politely?!! but today I woke up with a funny dream in my memory. All night long I had dreamt of making baking and cooking pasta dishes.... I know it sounds funny but happens with me sometimes. So I came to a conclusion that I'm pasta starved!! lolz
These days Parag is unusually busy, works crazy hours, leaves at 8 am and returns at 10-11pm, this has affected my cooking someway.... whatever I cook seems to be too much portion wise and there is always almost half of it left over.
So today we are going to have very very funny dinner of leftover Pav-Bhaji, Cucumber sambar along with Rice and yes, u guessed it right, Spicy pasta. Makes me feel bad spouse but then we have to finish the leftovers.

P loves pavbhaji and sambar rice and likes pasta dishes in moderation, so no problem. I wish I could post my recipes along with lovely snaps but the thing is that I left out my camera back in Baroda during my last visit, so I shall not be posting any snaps till sept end, ie after my next visit to India.

Now back to our recipe.

Now the thing is that we Indians love everything that is spicy, much more spicy than the Mediterranean or continental cuisines, so I have modified the original Italian recipe to a little bit spicy version.

Saucy Spicy Pasta

Serves 2-3

Ingredients :

2 cups cooked pasta of your choice (I have used medium sized elbow macaroni)
(3/4th cup of uncooked pasta yields 2 cups cooked pasta and add salt while boiling them)
1 cup milk
2 tbs all purpose flour or cornflour
1 small onion
1 tbs butter
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp fresh ground peppercorn
1/2 tsp oregano (optional)
pepper jack, cheddar cheese or any other cheese of your choice
salt as per taste
capsicum and tomatoes for garnishing

Method:

Cook pasta, drain and run them under cold water. keep aside.
In a heavy bottom pan add water + minced onion and let it boil for couple of minutes. In another bowl add milk, flour, salt, ground pepper, oregano, chilli flakes and whisk to blend them nicely.
Add this mixture to boiling water and onion and keep stirring. once the mix gets thick remove it from the stove and add butter and grated cheese of your choice.
Add pasta to this spicy sauce and mix well.
Adjust salt and spice to your taste.
Remove this mixture to microwave safe casserole and garnish it with rings of capsicum and tomatoes along with more shredded cheese. Grill for 10 mins and serve hot.
those who dont have microwave in hand can enjoy it without grilling coz grilling is just done to attain that semi baked taste to the cheese on top.

Hmm!!! my kitchen has heavenly smell of cheese and pepper right now.... nothing better than this.
Cheers!!!!