Guvar Dhokli Nu Shaak - A Gujarati Delicacy (Cluster Beans Curry)

Dear All,

A dear friend of mine sent me a message "We all are part of a puzzle of someone else's life. You many never know where you fit in, but someone else's life may never be complete without you !!" How true is this? When we look back in past, we meet many people and as we meet them their lives get connected to ours. Sometimes we find them as our friends, colleagues, bosses etc I truly believe that we learn something from our each interaction. We learn and feel every emotion happiness, anger, trust, courage, patience. All this is very important for us to become a better human being and truly enriches our lives. I am not sure if I am part of a puzzle of someone else's life but I sure know that I will try to fit in :-)

Todays dish is long pending, it was initially requested by Sangeeta and I had promised her I will post the recipe very soon. Due to unavailability of cluster beans in swiss i couldnt post the recipe earlier. Guvar Dhokli Nu Shaak as said in gujarati is one of my favorite curries to an extent where i can eat this all alone without rotis and believe me its very tasty and fulfilling. I am sure every gujarati must have tasted this atleast once in their life. Its very regular in my house and is enjoyed by all. I would urge everyone to try out this dish once and experience the difference :-)

Recipe Source: My Mom

Ingredients:

250 gms Cluster Beans chopped (Guvar)

a generoud pinch of asafoetida (Hing)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oil

For Dhoklis:

1 cup chickpea flour (Besan)

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

a pinch of baking soda

2 - 3 tbsp oil

Procedure:-

• To make dhoklis, mix everything together and make a smooth dough. Avoid adding water to the dough and use more oil if required.
• Make small round balls and flatten them with your hands. Remove 4 to 5 dhoklis and keep them aside.
• In a pan heat about a tsp of oil, add in asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Now add in the cluster beans, washed and chopped. Add rest of the masalas and 1/2 cup of water.
• Cover and cook for 7 to 8  mins.
• Once 90% done, slowly add in all the dhoklis one by one. Cover and cook for another 5 mins.
• Smash the dhoklis which we had kept aside and stir in the curry, add in water if required. This helps to make the curry thick in consistency.
• Make sure you donot frequently stir the curry as it may break the dhoklis.
• Serve immediately with hot rotis.

Weekend if very near so here's wishing you all a very happy and relaxing weekend. See you all next week.

This dish is off to Flavors Of Gujarat event by Nayna