Dhokar Dalna

Ingredients:

2 cups chana(chola) dal
2 onions
3 to 4 cloves garlic
½ inch ginger
2 tomatoes
2 pinch asafoetida
½ tsp cumin seeds
2 to 3 cardamom
2 to 3 cinamon
2 to 3 cloves
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp red chilly powder
oil to fry
salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the chana dal overnight and grind it into a thick coarse paste with very little water. Now keep a pan on fire and put 1 tablespoon of oil in it. After the oil becomes hot, put one to two pinches of asfoetida and few cumin seeds. Wait till the cumin seeds pop up. Then put 1/3 rd of the ground paste into it. Stir till the pury starts leaving oil from the sides. Now put the ground chana dal and stir continuously so that it does not stick to the pan. Add some salt and turmeric to it. After the water gets dried up completely and the whole mixture becomes a semisoft stuff, put off the stove and put the mixute in a greased flat vessel preferably a plate. Make the surface even with your hands. Now let it cool. Cut it into many diamond shaped pieces and deep fry them. (You can serve these as snacks with tea).

For Curry:

Make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Put oil in a pan and put the paste after the oil becomes hot. Now add salt, turmeric and red chilly powder. Stir it well. After the mixture starts leaving oil from the sides put quite an amount of water and bring it to boil. Now before putting off the gas add a powder of cinamon, cardamom and cloves. The curry will start leaving a nice tangy smell. Now put the fried pieces into the curry and keep the vessel on fire for 5-7 minutes. Dhokar Dalna is ready. Serve with hot steaming rice.