Sindhi Dal Pakwan
The moment I introduce myself as a Sindhi food blogger, the first thing I am asked about is Dal Pakwan / Daal Pakwaan. This popular breakfast is well-liked across cultures and societies. I would not be wrong in comparing that Daal Pakwaan is the equivalent of chhole bhature for Punjabis.
Sindhis, have always been connected to fried food. We have the tuk patata, sanna pakoda, daal puri and ofcourse the daal pakwaan. We are not afraid of our food showing on our stomachs. For every sindhi, this is probably a regular Sunday morning breakfast or brunch. If you are in an area dominated by Sindhis like Pimpri or Kalyan or Ulhasnagar; you will be sure to find a few street food vendors selling the daal pakwaan.
Specifically, for my house, it was a bi-monthly affair to have daal pakwaan on Sundays; either as breakfast or brunch. There was no way mom would miss it for anything.
My belief always has been, that the simplest of the food, with the minimum of ingredients, bring out the best of the flavours of the raw material used for cooking. The people who made these recipes used the basic principles; of keeping things short and simple. This is another recipe which iconises the simplicity, checkout the Recipe below.
Start with the steps for the making the pakwaan first as this is a slightly longer process. Follow the recipe as it goes to take advantage of some time planning.
Dal Pakwan Recipe
Print RecipeIngredients
For the Daal
- 1 cup of Chana Daal / Split Bengal Gram
- 1 tsp of Jeera / Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp of turmeric powder
- 2 green chillies
- 2 tbsp oil (whichever you prefer)
- A few curry leaves
- Salt to taste
For the Pakwaan
- 1 cup of Maida / Refined Flour
- 1 tsp Jeera
- A pinch of Salt
- Water to knead the dough
- Enough oil to deep fry the pakwaans
For the tamarind chutney
- Tamarind
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 finely chopped medium sized onion
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For the Pakwaan, in a mixing bowl, add the Maida
Add the Jeera
Pour in the water
Make a normal soft dough from the mixture
Let the dough be rested for 20-30 mins
Roll out thin round pakwaans and place them on tissues to rest & dry for a while in the open
In the meanwhile, for the Daal, soak the daal in a cup of water for approximately 4 hours
Get a pressure cooker on the gas
Pour in the oil and let it warm a bit
Add the cumin seeds, let them crackle a bit
Add the slit green chillies and let them cook a bit
Add the curry leaves and immediately add the daal with the water
Add the turmeric and the salt and mix well
Shut the cooker and let the cooker whistle about 5-6 times.
Switch of the gas and let the cooker take its own time to release the pressure.
Your daal is almost ready
Once the cooker opens up, mash some part of the daal a bit. The daal should have a mix of full grains and some mashed grains, that is what gives the texture and the bite to the daal.
For Pakwaans, eat the oil in a deep-frying pan
Check whether the oil is hot by pushing a small piece of dough, if it surfaces immediately, you are ready to go.
Push in the pakwaan.
Since the pakwaan has been kept to be dried, it should not puff up. If they do puff up, keep pressing the pakwaan in the oil. The pakwaan should be brown and crisp.
Fry the balance pakwaans.
While you have the time you can get the chutney ready. For that, soak tamarind in half a cup of water for 30-45 mins
De-seed the tamarind water
Add the salt, chilli powder and some more water so that you can have a flowing consistency
Notes
Serve the daal garnished with the tamarind chutney with hot pakwaans. You could also add a spoon of mint chutney, if you like. A small twist for the pakwaans would be to cut the pakwaans in equal pieces like Nachos and then fry the triangles. This would be a hit with kids.
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