Dal Dhokli is a delicious traditional Gujarati comfort food, made with many variations and known by different names in other states of India. In North India it is called Dal Pitthi. The Dhokli is made with wheat dough, then rolled into thin circles and cut into square or diamond shapes. The Dhokli is then mixed into the sweet-sour Gujarati dal and tadka with ghee and spices; and left to simmer until it gets cook properly. This recipe utilizes Jowar flour along with wheat flour to make it healthier. This one bowl meal can be prepared over the weekend, which gives a big change to our daily meal. You can use your leftover dal, and convert it into a healthy Dal Dhokli!
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Shahi Aloo Mutter
Potatoes are kings in veggies, with which we make several delicious dishes such as snacks, curries, bread or appetizers. Potatoes are also an all time favorite for kids. This dish is prepared with baby potatoes (but you can use big potatoes as well) without the use of onion and garlic. Adding cashew nuts into this curry gives a rich and thick texture and shahi taste to the dish. You can also add thick curd instead of cashew nuts. This dish can be made during the navratri festival, and is a great dish if you don’t want to add paneer. Shahi aloo mutter is best served with rice, roti, poori, naan or parathas.
Achaari Kathal dry
Jack fruit, also known as “Kathal” in hindi, is generally available during summer season. Raw Jack fruit is used to prepare varieties of recipes like curry, dum, kofta, dry dish as well as pickle. Ripe Jack fruit seeds are used as fruits known as Koa in Northern part of India. This recipe is prepared using raw Jackfruit which I found in supermarket. In our childhood we used to carry this in lunch with Poori, one of the favorite Mom’s dish. To prepare this curry, boiled Jackfruit is flavored with achaari masala which gives a tingling taste to it. Be careful while cutting the Jackfruit as it is little tough due to it’s sticky nature, apply oil on your palm and knife before you start cutting. Achaari kathal is a very tasty dish and goes really well with roti, poori, paratha and plain rice. Earlier I have shared kathal dum recipe if you would like to try that.
Gatte ki sabji( Sabzi)
Rajasthan, a state in India, has its own specialties when it comes to delicacies. Gatte ki sabji is one of that delicacy prepared using simple ingredients however has amazing taste. Though it is specialty of Rajasthan,its famous all over India. Other parts of India have their own variation of besan curry similar to to gatte ki sabji and I have shared couple of recipes of the same. It seem Rajasthani marriage celebrations are incomplete without this dish. The main ingredient of the recipe is besan (gram flour) which is used to prepare Gatte. The curry is based out of tomato, curd and mix of spices. In this recipe, I have also added fresh fenugreek (methi) leaves which make Gatte’s more delicious. Making dough for Gatte is little tricky and it should be of wheat flour chapati’s consistency. The delicious curry goes very well with Roti, Rice, Naan and Paratha.
Paneer Mutter Masala
Paneer mutter masala is one of most popular dish in North India. Paneer is one of the most liked ingredient to adults as well as kids. There are varieties of paneer recipes like paneer butter masala, methi paneer mutter masala, paneer tikka masala, palak paneer, chili paneer masala and so on. This recipe is a considered as a delicacy and prepared only on special occasions. It is also one of the most sought out dish in restaurants. The recipe looks very appealing in its orange red color gravy which is generally due to food coloring. However I have used beetroot to get the same color to the recipe. The main ingredient in the recipe is paneer and mutter which is added to a rich tomato based gravy with spices, cashew nut and cream. The wonderful aroma due to spices and awesome taste of curry is extremely appetizing. The curry goes very well with Naan, Poori, Parathas and plain or jeera rice. If you are not a fan of paneer, you can use Tofu instead. Prepare this dish to celebrate your special days with family and friend, however indulge at your own risk.
Chicken Masala
There are varieties of recipes which one can make using Chicken. Different states in India have different chicken masala flavor. This recipe preparation is specifically based on the one which is used in Northern part of India. For this recipe chicken is roasted and cooked in a pan and then mixed with beetroot & tomato based gravy. Using whole spices in the preparation gives awesome garam masala flavor. Chicken masala goes well with plain rice, jeera rice, paratha, naan or phulka. We all loved this recipe, even kids too as I did not make it very spicy. If you a chicken lover, I am sure you and your family would like this too.
Red Beans Curry
Red Beans Curry is a side dish prepared mainly from dry Red Beans. There are variety of beans available in grocery store like kidney beans, pinto beans, soybeans and so on. Using these beans you can also prepare variety of recipes like a soup, curry and salad. Beans are good source of fiber and protein. This recipe preparation is more like Indian style Rajma recipe. The recipe is very simple to prepare basically soak the beans overnight, boil it and then cook with some spices. The curry goes very well with plain rice, jeera rice and well as poori and paratha. This same recipe I have also used for Beet Greens Rice Roll. 
Daal Baati
Daal Baati Churam is a very popular traditional Rajasthani dish. The celebrations like marriage, festival, parties and so on in Rajasthan are incomplete without this traditional dish. Daal Baati Churma is basically three items put together as a meal. I have already shared the recipe of Churma in my earlier blog and in this blog I am sharing the recipe for Daal and Baati. Baati is made from wheat flour balls with lots of deshi ghee. Traditionally, the Baati balls are backed in clay or coal based tandoor which gives a very specific smoky flavor to the recipe. However, I have made the Baati in electric oven and it really came out well. The crispy Baati with desi ghee aroma makes the dish tastes amazing. The Daal for this recipe is mixture of five kinds of daal (pulses) also known as panchmel daal. The daal is cooked with salt, water and turmeric powder however the seasoning with ghee, ginger-garlic and some gram masala brings in the real flavorful taste in Daal. Serve this recipe to your guests and I am sure they would love it.
