Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe
Chana dal dhoka oven baked and simmered in a no onion no garlic gravy.
Dhokar Dalna is a signature Bengali vegetarian dish. It is lentil cake made using chana dal which is traditionally fried and simmered in a satvic gravy i.e. a gravy without onion and garlic. I have learnt the recipe from my mother. She makes amazing dhokar dalna.
I have baked the dhoka instead of frying them to make it healthy and they taste as good as ever. The process is little time consuming but it is worth all the effort.
Serve Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe with Bengali Luchi Recipe or Methi Lachha Paratha Recipe for lunch.
If you like this recipe, try more Bengali recipes like
Note:
- You can fry the dhoka instead of baking.
- Dhokas tend to break, care should be taken while adding to the gravy.
30 M
60 M
90 M
4 Servings
Ingredients
-
For dhoka
- 1 cups Chana dal (Bengal Gram Dal)
- 1 inch Ginger , grated
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera)
- Salt , to taste
- Sugar , to taste
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil For the Gravy
- 2 Potatoes (Aloo) , diced
- 2 Bay leaves (tej patta)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 inch Ginger , grated
- 2 Tomatoes , chopped
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera)
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder (Dhania)
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- Salt , to taste
- Sugar , a pinch, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam masala powder
- 2 teaspoon Mustard oil
How to make Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe
To begin making Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe, we will first prepare dhoka i.e the lentil cake. Soak the chana for a few hours then grind it with ginger, chilli and little water into a paste.
Take a tablespoon of oil in a non stick pan add jeera, hing, the ground mixture, salt and sugar.
Stir it till the chana dal mixture dries and comes together.
Take a plate and grease it with some oil, put the mixture on it and pat down to spread evenly.
Let it cool down. You can keep in fridge it will harden fast and you can cut pieces.
Cut in medium sized diamond shapes or any shape.
Grease a baking dish, place the dhokas on it. Sprinkle little oil/brush them with oil and bake in oven at 180 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
The next step is to prepare the gravy. Heat mustard oil in a kadai, add jeera and bay leaf. Add ginger paste and tomatoes.
Next, add jeera powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar. Once the tomatoes turn mushy, add potatoes. Add water, cover and cook the potatoes.
Once the potatoes are done, add the baked dhokas in the gravy. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle garam masala powder and a teaspoon of ghee and give it a stir.
Switch of the flame, cover and keep it for sometime for flavors to blend well before serving with steamed rice, or Serve Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe with Bengali Luchi Recipe or Methi Lachha Paratha Recipe for lunch.
Bengali Dhokar Dalna Recipe is part of the Mother's Day Recipe Contest 2017
Priyanjali Joardar
Hi I’m Priyanjali, a complete foodie and a passionate cook. A microbiologist by profession, a researcher and professor, now a full time stay at home mommy to one and half year old naughty toddler. I’m a Bengali grown up in Chennai, moved to Mumbai after marriage. I’ve had special interest in good food since childhood. It's only after marriage I have started my experiments in the kitchen. I love to bake and cook. My recipes are mostly healthy. I specialize in alternative flour baking, that is, my recipes are without maida and I also don't use refined sugar. Recently I've started blogging at ohsodelishblogwordpress.com to pen down my experiments. I would love to hear back if you try any of my recipes. Happy cooking! Happy baking!