Varan phal/Bele kadabu- one pot wonder

Varanphal with spinach

This dish is one of my favorite one pot wonders. It is simple and easy to make but has a lot of room for adding your own veggies to make it more nutritious!

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (atta)
1/2 cup of cooked toor dal
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
4-5 curry leaves
2 leaves of tamarind soaked in water to make a paste (optional)
2 tbsp red chilli powder or according to your need
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil for seasoning

If you have more time and to make it more nutritious, add the below
1 cup of chopped fresh spinach
7-8 florets of cauliflower
1/2 cup of frozen French cut beans
(You can add almost anything)

Method:
1. Knead the atta with water into a chapati/roti dough and keep it aside.
2. Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a deep pan (or kadai)
3. Splutter mustard and cumin seeds
4. Add garlic and curry leaves and fry until garlic turns brownish in color
5. If using veggies which is optional, add them now and fry for 2-3 minutes
6. Add red chilli powder and make sure it doesn't burn by adding the cooked dal immediately to the pan
7. Fry for a minute on low flame
8. Now add turmeric powder, salt and tamarind paste
9. Add around 4-5 cups of water, cover and cook until the veggies are half done
The gravy should not be thick, it should be runny but still you should feel the presence of dal
10. Meanwhile, make medium sized balls out of the dough
11. Take one ball and roll it into a circle like roti. Don't make it too thin, because we are going to cut it into diamond shapes
12. Using a knife, first make 1/2 inch wide vertical cuts from end to end. Next make 1/2 inch wide horizontal intersecting cuts from end to end. This gives you diamond shapes
13. Add the shapes to the boiling gravy
Remember, keep the gravy on a low heat until you are done with shaping and adding all the dough, so that the dough added earlier wont get overcooked
14. Now repeat steps 12 and 13 for the remaining dough
Keep stirring gently as the dough might stick to the bottom of pan
15. Cover and cook until the dough is soft enough and doesn't carry a raw taste
16. Garnish with chopped cilantro

Serve with ghee and udid papad.