Sindhi Dal Pakwan: A Crispy And Flavourful Breakfast Delight

Are you craving a different breakfast menu? Try Sindhi Dal Pakwan, a delicious combination of crispy bread and a mildly spiced lentil dish, especially popular in Sindhi households in India.

This weekend, ditch the usual bread and butter and try the simple yet delicious Sindhi Dal Pakwan for the ultimate breakfast experience.

Ingredients

For Dal:

• 250 gm chana dal
• One small onion
• One small tomato
• 3-5 green chillies
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-6 curry leaves (karipatta)
• 3 cups water
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp oil
• A pinch of asafoetida

For Pakwan:

• 2 cups All purpose flour (Maida)
• ½ tbsp cumin seeds/Ajwain (caraway)seeds either or both
• 3 tbsp oil (Ghee is preferred)
• Salt to taste
• ½ tsp Red chilly powder
• Sufficient water to make a dough
• Oil for deep frying
   

Method

To make Dal:

• Wash the dal and soak it for an hour.
• Ideally, the Dal is made without any onions and tomatoes. The vendors generally add loads of butter and flavourful spices to enhance the taste of the otherwise bland dal. But at our home, we use onions for flavors and tomatoes for
  sourness as some family members can't consume tamarind butter is used in Dal made in Sindhi homes, in general.
• Pour 1-2 tsp oil into a cooker and allow it to heat. Add hing, chopped onion, and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add grated tomatoes, and chopped green chillies and fry it till cooked.
• Add dal, turmeric powder, and salt.
• Add 2-3 cups of water and close the lid of the cooker.
• Wait for one whistle. Cook on low flame for 5 minutes. Put off the flame. Allow the cooker to cool down.
• Open the lid, and check the dal, it should be tender but not mushy.
• Heat 1 tsp of oil in another pan and prepare a tempering of Cumin seeds and curry leaves and some red chili powder. Add the tempering to the dal. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
• While serving, sprinkle mango powder (Amchoor), chilly powder, coriander leaves and tamarind chutney and/or coriander chutney and chopped onions( optional)
• Serve hot with crisp pakwan.

To make Pakwan:

• Sieve the flour.
• Mix the flour with the cumin seeds/Ajwain, oil (Ghee), salt, chilli powder, and sufficient water and make a dough.
• The dough should neither be too hard nor too soft.
• Let the dough rest for 15 min.
• Later, divide the dough into 10-12 small portions.
• Roll out each portion like a chapati
• Prick the surface with a fork/ knife, so that it won't puff out (don't forget to do this)
• Heat the oil till smoking point, slide in the Pakwan, and carefully fry it, on medium or low flame till it turns crisp and
  golden in color

(Recipe credit: Sindhi Rasoi)