Daal Paratha with Kakdi Nu Raitu ~ My Gujarati Plate!

Sharing is caring!

My first exposure to Gujarati cuisine came during my college days. This is where I learnt about the different and cultural variations of each state. As I had reminisced in past posts, my group was a mixture of many states. And one was my gujju friend J She was the only child of a lovely couple and she was such a sweet girl. This was their first stay in Madras, as Uncle was posted down south for the very first time. I don't really remember the first year at college as I was in a different world all together. But it helped having my family friend being my classmate. I just hanged on, with the crowd she was moving. And she was pretty close to J. J was a pretty girl with long hair. So long a hair, it had to be seen to believe. And she used to have so much difficulty maintaining it. Though she was bent on styling it differently, her parents were against it. And when I remember her, its her hair and her mom's wonderful Gujarati dishes that comes to mind. College days got us close, and we ended up going to each one's place for lunch during our summer holidays. When we landed at J's place, we had so much fun cos I was traveling to those parts after a long time. And it helped refreshing my mind.

Her mom prepared awesome lunch for us. One of the dishes that she made was Rajma Masala. It was just so yummy and I wrote down the recipe to try later. Though I tried it couple of times, it wasn't same as Aunty prepared. We spent the entire evening and with reluctant heart, to end the fun, we returned home. I can still close my eyes and remember that delicate aroma coming out of the Rajma Masala. Though we kept in touch for a while after college, we lost touch as we moved on with our life. Oh how I wish those days come back, even if its a college I never wanted to go in the first place, that's the only thing that ever happened. I wish I would be given a chance to do it all over. But life, I guess offers us a different plate than what we want and it always leaves us wanting and longing, for something that never happens as such. I have been back to my college couple of times again, but I always get back with a sense of pang.

Since Gujarati food is something I have enjoyed, I wanted to prepare something this month for RCI. So I googled and got a handful of them. I will be trying to prepare them in batches. I mixed and matched the main and accompaniment. This first set came out well. They are for keepers. Hubby dear and Athamma liked the paratha and wanted it to be included in the to do again list. The cucumber raitha is something we always make, though this has few ingredients more.

Daal Paratha

Ingredients needed

Wheat flour - 3 cups
Salt to taste

For the filling

Yellow moong dal - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Asafoetida a pinch
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method to Prepare

Knead the atta to a soft dough. Keep aside.

Pressure cook the moong dal with enough water for 3 whistles or till its cooked

Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida. Once they pop up, add the cooked dal, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and mix well.

Cook until the dal mixture is dry. Let it cool.

Divide this into equal parts, Follow the same method that followed for a stuffed paratha. Roll out each one

Heat a tawa, smear with oil and cook the daal ka paratha on both sides by adding oil.

Serve daal paratha hot with Kakdi Nu Raitu and Avvakkai Achar.

This combination was Ultimate. The spicy dal stuffing went well with the cool cucumber Raita.

Kakdi Nu Raitu
Ingredients needed

Cucumbers - 1 medium
Curds/ Yogurt - 200 gms
Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Chillies - 1
Roasted Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Method to prepare

Peel and grate the cucumbers. Chop coriander and chillies to fine pieces.

Beat the curds to a smooth texture. In a bowl, take everything and mix well

Serve chilled.with Daal Parathas along with your choice of Achar! Mine has always been Avvakkai.

My gujarati plate is being sent to Mythili who is hosting the RCI themed on Gujarati Cuisine this month.

************************
For a weekend dose of Tom and Jenny, head to here.