Day Seven -Finale to the Marathon - Varan Phal

The Finale to the Marathon i.e Day Seven of the 7 Days 7 Recipes Marathon hosted by Nupur(thanks for hosting a great event and unique different concept to bid goodbye to 2009) is here.
Here's the list of the Enthusiastic runners of the Marathon and take a look at the amazing, wonderful and delicious fare that they cooked on Day 1, Day 2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6 and Day7.
The seventh dish on Day Seven of the Marathon is VaranPhal. VaranPhal is a Varadi dish( dish from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra i.e. Nagpur) Nagpur is my father's hometown and this quin essential Varadi dish is one of his favourites.
Since he is travelling on New Year's, here's wishing him A Very Happy New Year with one of his favourite dish - Varan Phal.

Baba - This one is for you.

Here just when I thought that I managed to survive the weekend long food marathon in midst of work deadlines and foreign delegation of clients, exciting things were in store for me....what with umpteen technical problems first in the computer then the hard disk crashing and then what with the non-co-operative blogger server, which refused to upload my post or photos, everything that could possibly go wrong did for the Grand Finale.....C'est la Vie......
Anyways, please accept my apologies for the delayed post.
The server continues to be as non-co-operative as ever and I am unable to upload the photos. I will upload them as soon as the technical snags get sorted out.

VaranPhal is also know as Dalvaphale or Dal dhokales in other parts of the country. Dinner comprising of Vegetables, Dal and Roti can be replaced by this single dish meal.
Here's how the dish is made Varadi style -
VaranPhal
For Varan(Dal)
Ingredients -
1 cup toor dal
5/6 cups of water
Salt as per taste
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
Ghee - 1 tablespoon / oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
7/8 cloves of of garlic
2 inches of ginger finely shredded or cut into small pieces
(alternatively use 1 teaspoon of ginger & garlic paste)
Black Pepper / Kali Miri- 7/8
Cloves/ Lavang - 4 / 5
Cinnamon/Dalchini - 1 inch stick
Bay Leaves / Tamal Patra- 2
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon / Green chillies - 3/4
Curry Leaves - 6/7
Jaggery
Tamarind pulp or paste ( 1 teaspoon)
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
For Phal (dhoklas) in the varan -
Whole Wheat Flour ( kanik or atta) I use Sakas Atta - 2 cups
Salt - pinch
Oil
water
(Cumin seeds, coriander or masala can be added to the dough)
Method -
Pressure cook 1 cup of toor dal with 5/6 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon of ghee for 4/5 whistles.
Let the dal cool.
Take one tablespoon of ghee in a large bottom pan and heat it.
Add mustard seeds (rai).
When the mustart seeds splutter add cumin seeds (jeera) and asafoetida (hing)
Add Black Pepper / Kali Miri,cloves/ Lavang ,cinnamon/Dalchini , curry leaves and Bay Leaves/ Tamal Patra.
Add ginger and garlic and stir well.
Add onions and stir till they become translucent.
Add turmeric powder and tomatoes.
Add dal, Red chilli powder ,coriander powder (dhania), teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder) & garam masala powder.
Add jaggery and tamarind pulp / paste.
Add water if required and bring dal to boil.
Mix together whole wheat flour, salt with water and form a dough( like we do to make rotis/ chappatis) .Knead the dough.
Oil can be added while kneading the dough to both hands(so that the flour does not stick while kneading) as well as the mixture.
Cumin seeds, coriander or masala can be added to the dough.
Make small balls of the kneaded dough.
Take one ball and flatten it with rolling pin and make a round of it.
Cut it into horizontal and vertical lines using knife( same process as in shankarpalis)
Take the small pieces and drop them in the boiling dal.
Let the mixture boil for 5 mins till the atta gets cooked properly.
Serve hot with a dollop of ghee and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Varan Phal is ready to be served. Its a great single dish meal more in the lines of simple comfort food specially in the cold winter evenings.
Wishing everyone a Very Happy & Prosperous New Year!!!!!!!!
The marathon comes to a grand end and its time to bid goodbye to 2009.........
But its time to welcome the new year 2010 with new recipes so even though the marathon ends, we will continue to meet in the new year ........
We begin the New Year with a bang........so watch this space for more........