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Ingredients

For the Dhoka

  • 1½ cup of mocha/banana flower chopped
  • 1 cup of chholar daal (chana daal)
  • ½ cup of grated coconut
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon of red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon of roasted cumin powder
  • 2 green chilies chopped
  • 3 tablespoons of mustard oil
  • oil for frying

For the Dalna

  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • ¼ cup of yogurt
  • ½ tablespoon of grated ginger
  • 2 potatoes peeled and cubed for the dalna
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon of red chili powder
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick broken into pieces
  • 4-5 cardamom pods
  • 5-6 cloves
  • 3 tablespoons of mustard oil
  • 1 tablespoon of ghee

Instructions

  • In a kadai, heat mustard oil. Add the potatoes, fry the potatoes and keep them aside.Meanwhile, mix turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Add ¼ cup of water to the mixture.Temper the oil with whole red chilies, bay leaves and cumin seeds. As the oil turns aromatic add the grated ginger, followed by asafoetida and the spice mixture.Add the tomatoes, potatoes, coconut and salt and continue cooking on medium flame.Cook till you see oil leaving the sides of the pan.Add water to the kadai and let it simmer.Gently add the dhokas to the kadai and continue cooking till you achieve the desired consistency. (See Notes)Add the sugar, Bengali garam masala powder, ghee and let it simmer for 2 minutes.Turn off the flame and serve the dhokar dalna with steamed rice, Bengali fried rice or basanti polao.
  • Soak the chana daal for 6 hours to overnight.Blend the chana daal coarsely. Also blend the motorshuti/peas along with the green chilies.(See Notes)Mix the chana daal paste with motorshuti paste. To the mixture add salt and asafoetida.Take a kadai, add 4 tablespoons of oil and heat it. Once the oil is hot, add the grated ginger and saute for 1 minute.Then add the dhoka mixture to the kadai.Continuously stir the mixture till you see the mixture coming together in the form of a dough.Grease a plate with oil. This surface will be used to shape the dhokas.Turn off the flame and transfer the dhoka mixture to the plate. Spread the mixture while it is still hot to about 1 inch of thickness.With a knife cut the dhokas in the shape of diamonds. But do not separate them while it is hot. (See Notes)Let the mixture cool completely. Now, you can separate the dhokas.In a kadai heat oil for frying. Once the oil is hot, gently drop the dhokas in oil for frying.Fry the dhokas in batches on medium low heat and keep them aside. Donot worry if bits of the dhoka comes out in the oil.After each batch you can remove the bits from oil and continue frying the dhokas. After frying keep them aside.

Notes

  • Blend the peas/koraishuti and chana daal separately else the mixing them might not give you an even mixture. The peas will form a paste while the chana daal will still remain whole.
  • Do not try to separate the dhokas while it is still hot, else they will crumble into pieces. The dough needs to be spread while still hot else the mixture will turn crumbly and it will be difficult to shape the dhokas.
  • Do not cook the dhokas in the gravy for too long. Cooking the dhokas in the gravy for a long time will disintegrate the dhokas.
  • Keep the gravy little runny as the dhokas will absorb water from the gravy even after you stop cooking.