Healthy Comfort Food : Chakolya !! by Tanvi

Hello everyone,

As I am a firm believer of the saying..."you are what you eat" , I try to eat healthy food. Today I want to share a very healthy, simple and easy to make recipe with you. It's called " Chakolya / Varanfal" . It is a very popular dish in Maharashtra .

                                    

Serves : 2 - 3 persons                                          

Ingredients :

For Chakolya ( diamond shaped dough pieces) :

3/4 cup wheat flour ( ata)

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

For Dal/ Amati :

1 cup boiled toor dal

2 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of asafoetida ( hing)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

5-6 curry leaves

1 dry red chilly

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp chilly powder 

water as needed.

sugar or grated jaggery 1tsp  (optional)

salt as per taste
desi ghee / clarified butter

You can put any vegetables : I prefer the following :

1/2 medium sized onion chopped finely

1 tomato chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped boiled carrots

1 cup fresh methi / dill leaves finely chopped

Procedure:

1) Pressure cook dal until tender. Mash it a little.

2) Mix wheat flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1tsp oil. Add water as needed and knead it to a dough.

3) Take a medium size pan, heat the oil in the pan on medium heat. Then add mustard seeds; let them splutter ,add cumin seeds, asafetida ,curry leaves, turmeric powder and dry red chilly. Give it a mix.

4) Add chopped onion, sauté it till it become translucent, then add garlic and sauté it.

5) Add tomato and cook it for a minute. Add carrots & give it a mix then add toor dal. Add garam masala, chilly powder, salt and jaggery. Now add water almost 2-3cups and let it boil. You need to make dal thin as once you put the dough pieces it will thicken.

6) While the dal (Amati) is boiling on medium heat, divide dough into 3 equal parts and make their balls.Take a dough ball and roll it approximately 6 inches. Cut it into 1 inch pieces. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining 2 dough balls and put the pieces in the boiling dal (Amati). Cook it for 5-8 mins.

7) Serve hot by garnishing it with chopped cilantro( coriander leaves) and a dollop of pure desi ghee. 

Yumm...yummmmm.

This dish is full of nutritions as it has proteins from dal, carbs from Chakolya or pasta, fiber from vegetables.

 It is instant hit with kids when you put pasta instead of wheat dough pieces and you are happy that they are eating veggies ;) 

Let us know if you like it or is there any variation that you recommend when you prepare this dish.