Pre-prep:

• Add the lentils to a big bowl and rinse it. I soak it overnight, but if you are short on time, soak it for at least 3 hours. Remember, the dal swells, so add extra water. The measure will be 3 knuckles above the dal.
  ½ cup chana dal, ¼ cup moong dal, ¼ cup urad dal

Making the filling:

• Drain the lentils on a sieve in the morning and transfer to the mixer/grinder.
• Add green chilli, ginger, coriander seed powder, turmeric, garam masala (if using) and grind to a coarse paste. Do not add water. Add the veggies to the final churn
  2 Green chillies, 1 inch Ginger, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon Coriander seed powder, ⅛ teaspoon garam masala, 1-½ cup mixed vegetables
• Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Mixing the dough:

• Sieve the flour, add the semolina, and mix.
  1 cup whole-wheat flour, ½ cup rava, ½ cup rice flour
• Add the oil, use warm water as needed, and knead it to a soft dough. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes. The quantity of water you will need is approximately ½ the amount of flour.
  1 tablespoon Oil, Water
• Add salt to the filling and mix well.
  Salt

Two ways of shaping the Dal Fara:

1. Shaping like a ghujiya or calzone:

• Make small balls with the dough and roll them out to a small poori or circle about 3 inches in diameter.
• Add a tablespoon of the filling on the poori, a little off-centre.
• Fold the other half of the poori press edges together and seal it. These look like calzones or ghujiya.
• Transfer to a tray.
• Roll out and shape the rest of the dough similarly.

Shaping like a Bati:

• Lightly oil your hand, and using a small piece of the dough, shape it into a bowl about 2 inches in diameter.
• Place 1 teaspoon of the filling and seal the edges, making a small ball.
• Press down the ball to a flat disc.

Cooking the Dal Fara:

• To boil the fara In a deep vessel, boil about 2-½ litres of water.
• Add the pitha and cook flipping occasionally for about 15 minutes when the water comes to a rolling boil.
• Drain and set aside on a sieve to drain all water.

Steaming the Dal Fara:

• Set up your steamer and bring the water to a boil.
• Grease the sieve lightly with oil and place the pitha on the sieve.
• Steam the pita for 15-20 minutes.
• The test is for a knife inserted in the pitha to come out clean.
• Set aside to cool. You can serve these pitha with green chutney on the side.

Tempering the Dal Fara:

• Cut the cooled pitha into 2 parts.
• Heat oil in a kadhai and splutter the cumin seeds.
  1 tablespoon Oil, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• Add the curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, and the cooked pitha.
  1 Curry leaves, 3 Green chillies, 1 inch Ginger
• Add some salt, amchur powder and the dry chutney powder, if using. stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the pitha is covered with the masala.
  ¼ teaspoon Salt, 2 tablespoon chutney powder , ¼ teaspoon amchur powder
• Transfer to a plate and squeeze the lemon juice.
  1 teaspoon Lemon juice
• Serve hot with chai and enjoy.