Dal Pakwan Recipe
Tempered Chana dal flavored with spices is teamed up with crunchy and crispy wheat bread called Pakwan.
Servings: 6 PEOPLE
Ingredients
BOILING DAL
- 1.5 cup Chana dal OR Bengal Gram lentils
- 1 teaspoon Haldi (Turmeric powder)
- Salt to taste
MAKING A TEMPERING/TADKA FOR DAL
- 1 medium Chopped tomato
- 1 tablespoon Chopped or grated ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1.5 teaspoon Coriander powder (sukha dhaniya)
- 1/2 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 1 - 1.5 teaspoon Amchur Powder (Mango Powder)
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 tablespoon Ghee for tadka
MAKING PAKWAN - MAKES 12 PAKWAN
- 2 cups Wheat Flour (Atta)
- 1 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
- 1.5 teaspoon Salt
- 1.5 teaspoon Ajwain
- 1.5 teaspoon Oil to finish up the dough
- Oil for Frying
ASSEMBLING PAKWAN
- 1/2 cup Chopped Onions
- 2-3 small Chopped green Chillies (optional)
- 2 tablespoon Chopped cilantro leaves - to sprinkle on top
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice - to sprinkle on top
- 1-2 tablespoon Gram flour sev to sprinkle on top
- A pinch of Chaat Masala - to sprinkle on top
- A pinch of Red chili powder
Instructions
MAKING DAL
- Clean and wash chana dal.
- Assemble: ingredients that are required for boiling the dal.
- In a pressure cooker add dal,salt and turmeric powder. Add enough water to cook the dal. For me it was 2 cups of water for 1 cup dal.
- Cook for 2- 4 whistles or until dal is tender. Cooking time may vary depending on dal texture and may take 4-6 whistles to cook the dal. Boiled dal is ready.
- Meanwhile assemble ingredients for tadka.
- In a kadhai heat ghee. Add cumin seeds and when they start to sputter add in chopped ginger and saute for a minute. Mix in chopped tomatoes..
- Mix in all the spices (except garam masala and amchur powder), add 3 tablespoon water, cover and cook on medium low flame until tomatoes are tender and soft.
- Mix in boiled dal. Add water accordingly.
- Add in amchur powder, garam masala powder and adjust the salt content.
- Chana dal is ready.
- Chana dal is ready. Let's begin making the pakwan.
MAKING PAKWAN
- Assemble: ingredients for pakwan.
- In a bowl combine all the ingredients one by one.
- Add enough water to knead a soft pliable dough.
- If the dough feels sticky dust it with 1 tablespoon of extra dough and make it smooth.
- Make small dough balls out of it.
- And roll it in the form of a small circle.
- Heat oil in a kadahi. Drop a ball of small dough in the hot oil and if it floats up right back, then the oil is ready for frying.
- Prick the rolled out dough circle with a fork.
- And fry them in hot oil until brown from both the sides.
- Do not let it puff. Unlike the pooris, pakwan has to be flat and crispy just like a papad.
- Remove from oil and rest it on a paper napkin to drain the excess oil. Crispy and crunchy Pakwans are ready.
- PAKWANS CAN BE BAKED IN OVEN. Preheat oven @ 350 degree F and place pakwan in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake them for 10-12 minutes on until crispy brown in color. Depending on oven temperature cooking time will vary.
- Serve it hot topped with chana dal, sprinkle some chopped onions, green chilies and cilantro on top. Sprinkle some lemon juice and finish it off with some red chili powder and chaat masala.
