Valor/papdi dhokli nu shaak
Papdi dhokli or valor dhokli nu shaak is a traditional Gujarati shaak (subzi) that is hearty enough to be enjoyed on its own or paired with a hot roti and buttermilk.
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Valor/papdi/sem phali are varieties of flat green beans with seeds found across India. The tender green beans are often used to make a curry as the mature beans are fibrous and quite woody in taste. The fresh beans tend to snap easily with a crisp sound and cooks in minutes.
The green beans curry with fenugreek dumplings or as I have known – valor dhokli nu shaak – is a traditional Gujarati recipe that uses this not a very popular vegetable in a delicious way. Valor and dhokli combined together makes a hearty shaak that be enjoyed on its own or with a roti. My version of this shaak has a broth that is simple in its flavours whereas the dhokli masala is similar to the muthia masala that is used in Undhiyu. Combined with bajri roti and chaas (salted buttermilk), it makes a complete traditional meal.
I call this subzi/shaak customizable for several reasons. You could use snap peas, guvar or French beans/fansi instead of valor. Also, you could change methi used in dhokli to your preferred green like drumstick leaves or even spinach. Either ways you go, it will taste delicious in a simple yet flavourful broth.
Have you tried these other delicious Gujarati recipes?
- Fada ni khichdi (dalia khichdi)
- Kathiyawadi ringna nu shaak (Eggplant mash with peanuts and moringa leaves)
- Satpadi rotli (Indian flatbread with 7 layers)
- Bharela marcha (stuffed chili peppers)
- Gujarati patra/patrode/alu vadi
Recipe Card
Valor/papdi dhokli nu shaak
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Gujarati
PREP TIME
30 minutes
COOK TIME
25 minutes
SERVINGS
Serves 4
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Gujarati | Category: Mains
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Servings: Serves 4
Papdi dhokli or valor dhokli nu shaak is a traditional Gujarati shaak (subzi) that is hearty enough to be enjoyed on its own or paired with a hot roti and buttermilk.
Ingredients
- For the valor base:
- 3 cups valor/papdi/sem phali
- 1 cup water
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- Salt to taste
- For the dhokli base:
- For tempering:
- 1 tbsp ghee/oil
- A pinch of hing (asafoetida)
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp ajwain seeds (carom seeds)
- 2 green chilies + ¼ inch ginger paste
- Salt to taste
- 1 ¼ cup water
- For dhokli:
- 1 ½ cups fenugreek/moringa leaves, washed and dried
- 3 green chilies + ½ inch ginger paste
- A pinch of ajwain seeds (carom seeds)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp dhania-jeera powder
- A pinch of hing (asafoetida)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour *see notes
- ½ cup besan (chickpea flour)
- For tempering:
- For the tempering:
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tbsp ghee/oil
- Coriander and lemon to garnish
Method
- Clean and cook valor/papdi/sem phali:
- Cut the top of the bean and remove the string that runs along the outer length of the bean.
- Open the beans to check for impurities and tear it to a size of approximate 1 ½ ich in length
- Wash the beans with the seeds and its pod in clean water and drain.
- Place the beans in a pan with 1 cup water, salt and baking soda and bring it to a boil.
- Turn off the flame once it comes to a boil and keep the pan aside to cool.
- Once it cools down, drain the water and keep aside. I got about ½ cup water.
- Make the dhokli:
- Combine all the ingredients listed under dhokli and make a dough without using any water.
- The dough should be soft, slightly sticky but firm enough to handle with oily hands. If it is too soft, add 1 tbsp of whole wheat flour or besan at a time to bind a dough you can make dhokli with. Do not put more flour than necessary as it can make the dhokli hard.
- With greased hands, divide the dough in 25 small dough balls and flatten them like a disc.
- Prepare all the dhokli from the dough and lay them on a greased plate next to each, but not sticking to each other.
- Cook the dhokli:
- In a broad shallow pan, place ghee/oil on a low flame.
- Add cumin seeds, carom seeds and hing.
- Once it starts to sizzle, add coriander leaves and fry for 30 seconds.
- Add 1 ¼ cup water, ginger-chili paste and the drained valor water (½ cup).
- Add salt (do remember that valor water has salt so add accordingly) and bring the water to boil.
- Once it comes to a rolling boil, add dhokli that you had prepared earlier one by one.
- Put few dhokli at a time and let the water come to boil again.
- Give a gentle stir and put few dhokli again. Repeat the process until all the dhokli are in the water.
- Once all the dhokli are in, lower the flame and let it simmer until all dhokli float to the top.
- Assemble:
- Add the cooked valor to the dhokli pan and give it a gentle stir to mix all the components.
- Continue to simmer for another 3-5 minutes while you prepare the tempering.
- Do the tempering:
- In a small pan, heat ghee/oil on a medium flame.
- Add finely chopped garlic and sauté until pink.
- Turn off the flame and add red chili powder and immediately pour the tempering over the valor dhokli shaak.
- Generously garnish with coriander leaves and lemon juice and serve immediately.
Notes
- To make the dhokli gluten free, increase the quantity of besan to ¾ cup instead of ½ cup instead of using whole wheat flour
- Wash and dry the fenugreek leaves thoroughly before using so that the dough is not too sticky to handle.
- If you need to make this shaak in advance, here are the two ways you can do it.
- Make dhokli and lay them next to each other with 1 cm gap on a tray. Freeze the dhokli with the tray till they turn hard. Collect the frozen dhokli and place it in a clean Ziplock bag and freeze it for future use. When in need, remove from the bag and use without defrosting.
- If you want to make it few hours in advance, cook the valor/papdi/sem phali and keep it aside. In a separate pan, you can cook dhokli as well. Add some more water as the dhokli will absorb water as it sits. Keep both the pans in the fridge. Just before serving, assemble both, cook for a few minutes longer so that the extra water can evaporate and do the tempering.
- Tempering of roasted garlic in ghee/oil gives an immense boost to this simple vegetable. However, if you wish to enjoy the simplicity of the vegetable, do skip the tempering.
- I would strongly recommend a generous garnish of coriander and lemon juice over this shaak before serving. It uplifts the simplicity of this curry and makes it vibrantly delicious.
- The beans cooked with a pinch of baking soda will help retain its vibrant colour. However, if you can skip it if needed.
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2 thoughts on “Valor/papdi dhokli nu shaak”
The dish looks delicious and colourful. Will definitely make it.
That sounds wonderful! Thank you so much for putting faith in my recipe 🙂