Varan Phal

This is a Maharashtrian recipe. It is also known as Chakolya. It is simply a lentil soup with homemade dumplings. There are many variations to this recipe. It is similar to Gujarati Dal Dhokli.

It can be made with either toor (pigeon peas) or moong dal. It can be made by adding garam masala +tamarind paste+jaggery.

This recipe is without tamarind+jaggery. Phal or dhokli are made by kneading a dough of wheat flour, salt, and water, rolling it, and cutting into pieces. Here, I used lasagna noodles. You can use any type of pasta 👇to make this dish. It saves lot of time.

Ingredients:

• Lasagna noodles
• 1 cup toor dal
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 4-5 green chili
• ½ cup cilantro
• 8-9 curry leaves

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

• Wash dal until the water is clear
• Add water to it and cook in a pressure cooker or instant pot
• Mash cooked dal to smooth paste and keep it aside
• Grind garlic, chili, cilantro, curry leaves to coarse paste

• Take a large pot, add water, 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp salt to it
• Bring it to boil
• Add the dry lasagna noodles and cook them
• Stir often to prevent from sticking
• When ready, drain in a colander and rinse with cool water, gently separating any noodles that may be sticking together
• Cut lasagna into small pieces and keep aside

• Take another pot, add oil and heat it
• Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds to it and let them crackle
• Add chili-garlic-cilantro-curry leaves paste to it
• Cook until rawness goes away (1-2 minutes)
• Add cooked and mashed dal to it
• Mix well
• Add water to get soup like consistency
• Add turmeric powder and salt to it

• Once dal boils, add lasagna pieces
• Let it cook for 5 minutes
• Turn off the stove
• Serve hot varan phal in a bowl by adding ghee or butter.

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