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DHOKAR DALNA (DURGA PUJA SPECIAL)

Preethi Prasad
Popular delicacy from the Bengali Cuisine during Durga Puja
5 from 10 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 People

Equipment

  • Wide Bottom Pan
  • Spatula
  • Pan for Frying

Ingredients
  

For Dhoka /Lentil Cake

  • 1 Cup Split Bengal Gram / Chana Dal
  • 1/2 Cup Freshly grated Coconut
  • 2 Inch Fresh Ginger chopped
  • 4 Nos Green Chillies
  • 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
  • 1/4 Tsp Turmeric / Haldi
  • 1/4 Tsp Asafoetida / Hing
  • 1.5 Tbsp Mustard Oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/4 Cup Roughly Crushed Roasted peanuts
  • 1 Tsp Sugar
  • Any Odorless Oil for greasing +Shallow frying

For Gravy:

  • 2 Nos Potatoes cut into 1 Inch Cubes
  • 2 Tbsp Mustrad Oil
  • 1 No Bay Leaf
  • 4 No Cloves
  • 3 No Green Cardamom
  • 2 Inch Cinnamon Stick
  • 2 No Tomatoes cut into 1 Inch cubes
  • Salt to Taste
  • 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Ginger Paste
  • 1/2 Tsp Turmeric / Haldi
  • 3/4 Tsp Cumin Powder / Jeera Powder
  • 1 Tsp Coriander powder / Dhania Powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 Tsp Ghee
  • 1/2 Tsp Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Fresh Coriander Finely Chopped

Instructions
 

For Dhoka / Lentil Cake:

  • Soak Channa dal for 6-8 hours or overnight.
  • Blend soaked channa dal , green chillies , ginger , salt and 1/4 cup of water to a fine paste.
  • Heat some oil in a pan. Add freshly grated coconut and roast till it turns colour.
  • Now add the ground chana dal mixture and mix well.
  • Add cumin powder , turmeric , salt , sugar ,roasted peanuts and hing and give it a nice mix for about 2 minutes
  • Turn of the heat and transfer the mixture to a greased plate. Flatten the top and set aside to cool completely.
  • Cut into diamond shape and carefully demould. Dhokar is now ready.
  • Heat enough oil in a pan to shallow fry the dhokar. Slowly shallow fry them in batches untill all the sides are nice and golden brown.
  • Transfer them on to a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

For Gravy:

  • Heat Mustard oil in a pan .
  • Add cloves, green cardamoms ,cinnamon stick and bay leaf and saute for a few seconds
  • Now add potato cubes and roast until they are nice golden brown.
  • Add tomatoes and salt and mix well. Now add ginger paste,chilli powder , cumin powder, coriander powder ,and garam masala and mix well.
  • Add about 1.5 cups of water and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Add the shallow fried dhokar to the gravy .
  • Now add sugar and ghee and cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat.
  • Garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander and serve .

Notes

  1. You can make dhokar in advance and deep freeze it.
  2. You can adjust the chillies as per your spice tolerance
  3. Have patience when you cut the dhokar and de mould it.
  4. Mustard oil is a must in this recipe. I have used sunflower oil for frying the dhokar.
Keyword BENGALI CUISINE, DHOKAR DALNA, DURGA PUJA SPECIAL, NO ONION NO GARLIC RECIPE, VEGETARIAN