Dal Dhokali ( A meal in one pot)

This is one of my favourite Gujju dish that is heart-warming and all done in one pot. I have always loved this dish but used to feel it was long tedious process to make it. The kneading of the dough for the dhokali was something that put me off making it. This was especially true when my hand used to hurt due to repetitive strain of typing and writing which was central to my career. Then I became ill and the pain in my hands and arms stopped me from even getting the flour out. But now I am stable and have the time to indulge in making this lovely yummy spicy dish. I find it is very comforting to eat it on a cold evening. In fact it is also good to have this piping hot and to warm you as well as to clear your sinuses when you are having a cold and feeling ill. By the way my measurements are usually an estimate and for feeding 2 people.

·        Ingredients for the dal

150 gms of tuver dal (also spelt as toor dal, split yellow pigeon peas)

1 small onion finely chopped

A small piece of ginger finely chopped

A couple of green chillies (more if you want it hot but I used a couple of different ways to add chillies)

2 – 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

A few curry leaves (10 – 12)

2 medium tomatoes finely chopped for the sour tang (alternately you can put lemon or lime juice or even tamarind pulp as shown in some of the recipes included in the websites I have provided)

2 table spoons of coriander powder

1 table spoon of cumin powder

Half teaspoon of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon of dry red chilli powder

1 teaspoon of sugar

Salt to taste

·       

Ingredients  for tempering the dal

1 table spoon of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

A hefty pinch of asafoetida

4 cloves

A small piece of cinnamon stick

2 small dry red chillies

·       

Ingredients for making dhokali

200 gms of chappati or plain flour (wheat flour)

1 table spoon of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin powder

2 teaspoon of coriander powder

¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder

½ teaspoon of chilli powder

Salt to taste (about 1½   teaspoons)

Water to mix the dough

·        Preparation of the dal dhokali

You can cook the dal in a pressure cooker as it is a quick way of cooking the dal. 

Once cooked add water to make sure it is fairly liquid. 

Then add the other ingredients and spices into the dal and allow them to cook. 

While you have started the cooking of dal you need to make the dough for the dhokali.

Add the oil and spices to the flour and then add water slowly as you mix the dough. 

You need to get a consistency that will allow you to roll out the dough like a chappati. 

Take a small handful of dough, make a ball and then roll it out in a circle of about 1 cm thickness. 

Then cut it with a knife into small lozenge shapes and add to the dal. 

You should be able to make 6 or so dough balls and roll out all to make the dhokali. 

The dhakali will cook in the simmering dal within 5 – 10 minutes. 

You can chop one with the spoon to check if it is cooked or taste it as I used to when I started cooking this dish first. Now I can tell by the way it appears when cooked.

Once the dhokali is cooked you will need to temper the dal. 

Heat the oil and mustard seeds and asafoetida in a small saucepan or a steel ladle over the heat. 

As the seeds start popping, add the other spices and when it gets popping well pour over the dal. 

This gives as good flavour of the spices. Finally add a handful of chopped fresh coriander and it is ready to serve in large bowls.

There are various version of this recipe on the internet as usual and here are some of the different versions -

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/gujarati/dal-dhokli.html

http://www.tarladalal.com/Easy-Dal-Dhokli-8738r

http://evolvingtastes.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/baroda-dal-dhokli.html (this one gives you a couple of different versions and also information on how to freeze the dhokalis so that you can just add them to the simmering dal)

http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=4402 (Rajasthani version)

http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/dal-dhokli.aspx (from a master chef!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhwEe4K6kg (nice but no subtitles in English)

http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/dal-dhokli.php
 

So there you have a whole lot of slightly different ways of making this dish…. you never know you will make one up to suit you from all these different ways. I have made it according to what I remember of my mother’s recipe rather than one set in any recipe book that is way my ingredients always are estimates and I have never measured anything. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish last night and I hope you do too.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

I had read book a long time ago and I know I lent this book out to someone but am not sure if I got it back. I have spent a long time searching through the fairly big library of mine especially when I was clearing out the ones I did not wish to take with me to Australia. Eventually I found it as an ebook. I have read all the books by Dan Brown at least a couple of times. He writes with the fairly believable plot, but one needs to remember that this is a fiction and not get carried away as people did with The Da Vinci Code. That was a pure blend of fact and fiction to make it believable.

This book is a 1998 publication but still feels fresh today as it reflects more of what is happening now with regards to spying on people via the net in the name to preventive measures against terrorism. It is entirely plausible when there is so much fear over terrorist attacks and it appears that governments think it is justified in having access to email, mobile calls, text messaging and all such electronic communication media. The central quote on which the whole plot revolves is "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (who will guard the guards?)

The very hush hush national security agency has a department just to pick up communications all around the world and analyse them, break the code if necessary and establish if it provides evidence of terrorist activity. The story begins with Deputy Director calling in his best code breaker and protégée to help him. He has been trying to decode a programme called ‘digital fortress’ which is supposed to be unbreakable code. It has been designed by a brilliant employee who was forced to leave the service under a cloud, after being bad mouthed by the agency. He was a man who believed that human beings have a right to privacy and delving into the communication of innocent people was not ethical. He is the man who has developed digital fortress as an unbreakable code.

The programme has been made available on the internet free of cost. The key to using this software was going to be auctioned and once that got out it would revolutionise communications as it would guarantee complete privacy. This in turn would make the latest toy of the agency obsolete; a toy that had been kept a closely guarded secret and is capable of breaking all the current codes employed by electronic communications. The programme has been in the code breaker from over 15 hours and this is unprecedented, maybe the code is unbreakable after all.

The deputy director sends off a civilian to get the personal effects of the creator of the digital fortress who has passed away in Spain. He may have been carrying the password key on him and so having access to it they could stop the auction and thereby stop anyone using this unbreakable code. The plot thickens when a couple of employees turn up unexpectedly on this Saturday. Will they twig as to what is happening in the code breaker? Does one of them have anything to do with the digital fortress (for it is suspected that there maybe a partner holding a second copy of the password)? Will David (the civilian) find anything important in the personal effects of the code maker? Who is the man stalking David across the city?

Like the other books by Dan Brown the story has twists and turns. The griping plot keeps you reading and forces you to think. It is true - who will guard the guardian? Setting precedents is dangerous and so is developing machines that allow governments to invade people’s privacy. Even if one accepts that the current government are ethical guardians what happens if they stop being ethical or the government changes? So will the digital fortress change the balance of power in the favour of those who want to spy on our communications? Certainly the end is at one level expected, for of course we cannot have an unbreakable code floating in this world threatening our ’safety’ but also unexpected as to the complicated game being played by two adversaries who were the deputy director and the code maker. One trying to ensure every code is broken leaving all communications open to the prying eyes of the government and the other believing we have a right to privacy. So who is eventually seen as the unethical one, who has stepped out of the line to follow his beliefs?

Memories

Memories are such a funny thing we enjoy

Sometimes they bring out a burst of joy

Sometimes a sharp prick of pain

Wondering if remembering is a gain

Joy for the good memories

When I had no worries

Pain for the moments that are gone

People that have moved on

Childhood was simple

With time that was ample

When we were in a hurry to grow up

Not knowing what worries would show up

Summer holidays reading and dreaming

Schools days which forced thinking

Everything thing felt intense

A lot did not make sense

Visiting the places from past

Sadly disappoints as what was did not last

But our collection of memories

Whether happy or sad memories

Allows us to savour those moments

This continuously expanding store of  moments

The smile of a best friend

When I fell over trying to bend

The hug from my dad

Never again to be had

When my sister got me pink jeans

The memory of it is definitely keen

The other sister I always tickled

And together we  giggled

Family gathering loving and sharing

Large meals that all enjoyed eating

Even the fights which are inevitable

Are a source of reminiscence veritable

Happy and sad

Not all memories are bad

Some form and mingle in the dreams

Making a story of our life it seems

Poetry

Poems take me long to write

Scratching my head for rhymes with all my might

Pairing words and trying to make sense

Of what I want to say without a mess immense

See how convoluted it becomes

To write a rhyme as it comes

Prose often can flow faster

There are no rhymes to master

The stumbling block here

Is the story must adhere

Despite this I do enjoy

Painting a picture with poems is a joy

What will happen if I let go

Forgetting rhyming and go with the flow

Do I dare to try

And let the words flow by

Dal Makhani

This is one of my favourite dal and I learnt to make it from my sister. It is a much loved dal from Punjab and a must during the cold winter days. It is a hearty meal just to have this dal with rice. It is whole black lentil cooked with spices and loads of butter in it. I am of course not at all in the favour of using a lot of butter all the time..… just a small dollop now and then. So my version is a healthy one and you can be as naughty as you wish by adding the amount of butter you want.

I also cook a large amount of dal, for at least a couple of meals as it does take a long time to cook. Most people would cool the lentils in a pressure cooker but I prefer not to. I sometimes soak the lentils overnight but it is not necessary to do so. Some people would like to add a small amount of soda bicarbonate to help soften this very hard lentil quickly. However I do find that the final taste of the dal makhani does alter a bit. I have now resorted to adding the required salt at the start of boiling the lentils and it works out well for me.

Ingredients

I roughly take 8 handfuls of the whole black lentils (you should take about 200 gms)

You can add one handful of red beans to this as well.

A medium onion finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 inch of ginger finely chopped

Green chillies finely chopped (have deliberately not written how many as you need to put according to how hot you can take, I generally put really hot green long chillies about 2 -3)

Tomatoes (2 medium fresh tomatoes or half a tin of tomatoes)

Teaspoon of whole cumin

A couple of small dried red chillies

4 cloves

A small piece of cinnamon stick

3 teaspoon olive oil or any vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder 3 teaspoons

Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon

Handful of chopped fresh coriander

Preparation

Boil the lentils (both black gram and red beans) after covering it well. The water should be 2 inches about the lentils. Bring it to boil and the medium simmer until the lentils go soft. If you add your salt at this point it will speed up the cooking time. But do remember that I use estimate of salt from practice and that water will evaporate and be added once the lentil gets cooked.

Make the temper / tadka – Add the oil and whole cumin to a pan and heat. As the cumin starts turning brown add the dried red chillies, cloves and cinnamon stick to it. Once that heats up add the finely chopped onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Cook till onions begin to lightly brown. Then add the tomatoes and the rest of the powdered spices. Cook till you can see the oil rise back out of the masala (paste) you have made. Then add this masala to the cooked lentils. Slowly simmer the lentils to completely get the taste of the spices into the lentils. Just before serving you can add the fresh chopped coriander.

Now the time to add the makhan (butter) for the dal makhani is once it has been cooked. So you can add butter to you taste. I would suggest that it is unsalted butter or the freshly made butter as the taste does differ if you used salted butter. The dish is best eaten with plain boiled or jeera rice (cumin rice). It can also be thickened to eat it with parathas.

There are obviously versions of this dal from different places/ chefs/families. The variations are of spices and amount of butter. In the old days the food was cooked over a coal fire and this was kept banked with glowing coals at night to keep the house warm. This fire was used to cook the lentil and so it slowly cooked over night and was well softened by the time the masala was added and returned to the heat. I have seen this being replicated in slow cooker but from the time that masala and lentils are mixed.

Here are some of the recipes I found that look good too -

http://vegeyum.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/dalmakhani/

http://vegeyum.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/dal-makhani-nilgiri/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal_makhani (an informative page about the background with a recipe)

http://www.tarladalal.com/Dal-Makhani-%28-Low-Fat-Recipe-%29-3570r

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq9rHij2z20 (fairly good if you need to watch someone do it)

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/daal/daal-makhani.html
 

Try it as I am sure you will come to love it especially on cold chilly night it warms you up nicely. I find that most of my cooking I do it on estimate that comes from practice of many years and so you do need to think of the amounts in terms of your tastes and the amount of lentils to be comparable with what measure you normally use for lentils for your family. Enjoy!