286.moong dal dhokra

Something to die for

I simply love dokhras and can finish loads of it by myself. Some devotees from the ISKCON temples in India came to visit us. One of the devotees was from the Juhu temple and other from the Bangalore temple.The world is small. What are the chances of meeting someone from Bangalore in Mombasa? Pretty slim. For all those who have not visited the Bangalore ISKCON temple, do so.... its really beautiful.

 After much thought I decided to make some dokhras to serve to them as a snack. I am glad both the devotees loved them and commented on how soft they were. This is a never fail recipe. You may feel that its quite a laborious task but its worth all the effort. They definitely do not get stuck in your throat like most ready made dokhras do and are not overly sweet and oily. The softness and texture of this dokhra recipe is much better than the instant dokhra recipe I have blogged earlier. I make them using moong dal as Ajay is allergic to chickpeas. If you need to make them for guests, you can easily make them the previous day. Just before serving, let the dokhras reach room temperature and do the tempering or vaghar. Heat them up in the microwave oven or in a pan. I usually put about a few tablespoons of water in the pan, add the dokhra and without mixing, cover the pan and let them become hot over low heat. The steam helps to soften the dokhras and at the same time heat them up.

MOONG DAL DOKHRAS

Serves about 6 to 8

1 cup yellow moong dal (split yellow green gram lentils)

½ cup rice

1 tbsp white urad dal (split black gram lentils)

¾ cup sour yogurt

¼ cup water

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp eno (fruit salt)

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp green chilli paste

1 tsp red chilli powder

1to 1¼ tsp salt

3 tsp sugar

½ tsp ajwain (ajmo, carom seeds)

½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)

½ tsp garlic paste (optional)

¼ tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)

¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)

For tempering or vaghar:

3 tbsp oil

8 to 10 curry leaves (limbdi or sweet neem)

1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)

1 tbsp sesame seeds (tal)

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 green chilli finely chopped

2 (8 to 9 inch ) steel or aluminium plates or a dokhra steamer

extra oil for greasing

1. Soak the dals and rice separately in warm water for 6 to 8 hours.
2. Drain out the water from both the dals and rice.
3. Wash them separately.
4. Mix yogurt and the quarter cup water. Leave a tablespoon of the dal on the side.
5. Coarsely grind the rice first using a bit of the yogurt mixture. Then grind both the dals coarsely, using the remaining yogurt mixture. Mix the dal and rice paste. The batter should not be runny at all. Usually the amount of water and yogurt I have mentioned above is enough to give you the right consistency of the batter. However, if you feel the batter is too thick add about a tablespoon or so of  water. 
6. Add the fenugreek seeds and turmeric powder to the batter. Mix well, cover and let the batter ferment for a further 4 to 6 hours in a warm place.
7. The batter should now appear a bit frothy and fermented. Add salt, sugar, ajwain, oil, hing, chilli, ginger and garlic paste to the batter. Mix it well.
8. Take a wide slightly deep pan. It should be bigger than the plates you will use for steaming. Add water to the pan about quarter full. Place a ring or a stand so that the plates do not touch the water.(check below or my steaming device)
9. Grease both the plates with a bit of oil. Place one plate in the pan on top of the ring or stand. Let the water come to a boil.
10. Divide the batter into 2 parts.
11. When the water begins to boil take one part of the batter and add ½ tsp of eno to it. Whip the batter well till is it frothy.
12. Pour the batter onto the hot plate. Sprinkle ½ tsp red chilli powder over it. Cover the pan.
13. Let the batter steam for exactly 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove the plate from the pan. 
14. Add more water to the pan if necessary. Let it come to a boil and repeat steps 11 to 13 with the remaining batter.
15. Let the dokhras become cool in the plate. Cut into squares or diamond shapes.
16. Heat oil in a wide pan. When it becomes hot add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves, chopped chilli and coriander. Mix for  a second or 2 and add the cut dokhra pieces. Gently mix with a spatula so that the dokhras get coated with the tempering ingredients.
17. Serve with a green or garlic chutney.

Tips:

• Use chana dal ( chickpea lentils) if you like instead of the moong dal. The dokhras turn out equally good.
• Prepare the tempering or vaghar in a small pan and pour it over the dokhras while still in the plate. Cut the dokhras and serve with the vaghar on top.
• Use a dokhra steamer or normal steamer if you have one. 
• Adjust the amount of spices, salt and sugar according to your taste.
• Add fresh grated coconut as a garnish if you like.

my steaming device

Sent this recipe for the following event :

cook yellow event @merry tummy

https://www.facebook.com/merrytummy?ref=hl

You may want to check out the following :

arvi paan bhajia

idlis

instant dokhras