Instant Pot Dal Dhokli | Lentil stew with homemade noodles

The ultimate comfort food, Dal Dhokli is a sweet, spicy, and tangy lentil stew with freshly made whole wheat noodles cooked in the lentils. A hearty one-pot meal from the Indian States of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where it is also called Chakolya or Varan Phal.

This finger-licking delicious and wholesome recipe has complex flavors from tamarind and jaggery,  soft melt in the mouth textures from the homemade wheat noodles, and nutty flavors from mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and peanuts.

After overindulging from a vacation or while recovering from an illness, this easy daal dhokli recipe always makes a good detox meal.

In India, pressure cookers are commonly used for cooking lentils and beans. So to make Dal Dhokli in the Instant Pot made perfect sense, with the added advantage of making it a one-pot dish. First make the tadka on the sauté mode, then add the aromatics and lentils and pressure cook the dal. Next, add the thinly rolled and cut pieces of the whole wheat dough and pressure cook it again for a perfectly cooked dal dhokli.

Variations

1. Substitute any cooking oil instead of ghee to make this a Vegan Daal Dhokli
2. Add 4 cloves and 1 cinnamon stick with the lentils to add warm flavors and aroma, this is especially a good idea during winter
3. Stir in 2-3 big handful of chopped spinach just before adding the dhokli
4. Traditionally this dish is made using Toor Dal but Mung Dal or Masoor Dal also makes a good substitute

Instructions

Step by step recipe to make Instant Pot Dal Dhokli:

Step 1: Pressure cook dal

• Turn Instant Pot to Sauté (more) mode and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee or cooking oil. Add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Next, stir in cumin seeds, asafoetida, and curry leaves. Add turmeric, ginger, and garlic. Mix well.
• Add tomatoes, red chili powder, jaggery, tamarind paste, salt, peanuts, and toor dal. Mix well.
• Pour 2 cups of water, give a quick stir and close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure cook(Hi) for 8 mins followed by Natural Pressure Release.

Step 2: Make the dough, roll and cut into squares

• While the dal is cooking, make the dough by mixing 2 cups of whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, salt, carom seeds, red chili powder, turmeric, and half a tablespoon of oil. Use water as needed to make a firm yet pliable dough. I used little more than ¾th cup of water. Add remaining oil and knead the dough well.
• Make 5 balls from the dough. Using the extra whole wheat flour, roll the dough balls into 10-12 inch thin circles. Using a pizza cutter, cut each rolled tortilla into 1-inch squares or dhoklis. Put the cut dough pieces on a platter. Sprinkle a little bit of dry flour before layering the pieces on a tray to avoid them from sticking to each other.

Step 3: Pressure Cook again with the dough squares

• Open Instant Pot after the pressure has released naturally. Turn the Instant pot to saute mode and using an immersion blender (or back of the spoon), gently blend (or mix) the dal for 5 seconds. Stir in 3 cups of water, cook covered with a glass lid, and bring the dal to a gentle boil.
• Add half of the dough squares to the daal and mix gently. Add remaining half dough squares, mix again. Close Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook(Hi) for 2 minutes followed by Quick Release. Mix the Daal Dhokli, add another tablespoon or two of ghee (recommended but optional), and garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy Piping hot!

Thanks to Mom, for making this recipe with me in the Instant Pot, it is always so much fun to cook with her! Here is my Mom, making the mouth-watering Daal Dhokli in Instant Pot:

Did you enjoy this one-pot meal? Try Suva Ni Dhokli, a unique twist to the traditional Dal Dhokli recipe with the addition of Dill leaves also known as Shepu or Suva ni bhaji.

Curious to know how to use different lentils and beans?

Check out this guide to Pulses, Indian lentils and beans with their different names and here are some of my go-to vegetarian recipes using dry beans and lentils:

• EASY Spinach Dal
• Black Eyed Peas Curry
• Chana Masala
• Dal Makhani
• Shepu chi Bhaji
• Sprouted mung misal

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Recipe

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Daal Dhokli - Instant Pot

Daal Dhokli - Savory whole wheat noodles cooked in sweet, spicy and tangy lentil stew makes an ultimate comfort food!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 5

Calories: 351kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

Part 1: Dal

• ▢ 4 tablespoon ghee divided (or 2 tablespoons of cooking oil for vegan option)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon asafetida
• ▢ 12 fresh curry leaves
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger grated
• ▢ 3 teaspoon garlic grated
• ▢ 2 plum tomatoes diced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• ▢ 2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoon peanuts skip for nut allergy
• ▢ ½ cup toor daal rinsed and drained
• ▢ 2 cups water
• ▢ ½ cup cilantro chopped for garnish

Part II: Dhokli

• ▢ 2½ cups whole wheat flour divided
• ▢ 1 tablespoon besan chickpea flour
• ▢ 1 cup water or as needed
• ▢ 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon carom seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil divided

Instructions

Pressure Cook dal

• Turn Instant Pot to sauté(more) mode and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee or cooking oil. Add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add cumin seeds, asafoetida, and curry leaves. Add turmeric, ginger, and garlic. Mix well.
• Add tomatoes, red chili powder, jaggery, tamarind paste, salt, peanuts and toor dal. Mix well.
• Add 2 cups of water, give a quick stir and close Instant Pot with the Pressure valve set to sealing. Pressure Cook(Hi) for 8 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release.

Make the Dhokli

• While the Dal is cooking, make the dough by mixing 2 cups of whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, salt, carom seeds, red chili powder, turmeric and half tablespoon of oil. Use water as needed to make a firm yet pliable dough. I used little more than ¾th cup of water. Add remaining oil and knead the dough well.
• Make 5 balls from the dough. Using the extra whole wheat flour, roll the dough balls into 10-12 inch thin circles.
• Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut each rolled circle into 1-inch squares or dhoklis. Put the cut dough pieces on a platter. Sprinkle a little bit of dry flour before layering the pieces on a tray to avoid them from sticking to each other.
• Open Instant Pot after the pressure has released naturally. Turn Instant pot to sauté mode and using back of a wooden spatula or an immersion blender, gently blend the dal for 5 seconds. Add 3 cups of water, mix well, cook covered with a glass lid and bring the dal to a gentle boil.

Pressure cook Dal & Dhokli

• Add half of the dough squares to the dal and mix gently.
• Add remaining half dough squares, mix again. Close Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 2 minutes followed by Quick Release.
• Mix the Daal Dhokli, add another tablespoon or two of ghee (recommended but optional) and garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy Piping hot!

Video

Notes

NOTES:

• You can add 4 cloves and 1 stick of cinnamon to the dal for more warm flavors
• Add 2-3 handful of chopped spinach in the dal before adding the dhoklis and stir well

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 1883mg | Potassium: 403mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 590IU | Vitamin C: 45.2mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 3mg

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