Khaman Dhokla

How to make Khaman Dhokla

Dhokla is a traditional Gujarati finger food. There are various versions of making Dhokla. I like it more with fermented batter. This recipe will make 10-15 pieces. This should be a good treat for a home snack or tea time party.

Here is what we need -

• 1 cup rice
• 1/2 cup chana daal
• 1/4 cup urad daal
• 5-6 green chillies(for chili paste & seasoning)
• small piece of ginger
• 1/2 tbs Turmeric powder
• sugar
• salt as per taste
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs of baking soda or 1 tbs fruit salt(ENO)
• mustard seeds
• asafetida
• cilantro
• 2 tbs of oil
• sesame seeds(optional)

What's next -

Soak rice, chana daal & urad daal in the water for around 6 hours. Grind it to the coarse mixture adding little water. Let the mixture rest overnight to ferment. Fermented mixture will rise a bit.

Make a paste of green chilies & ginger. Add sugar, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice, ginger-chili paste to the batter & mix well.

Dhoklas are steamed. There are dhokla steamers available in the market however I used a big pot to steam it. take 4 cups of water in the pot & switch on the stove. Put a steel stand in the pot (you could use any vessel as a base).

Grease the thali (I used my 8 inch round cake pan) with oil. For better result put the thali in the steamer before pouring the batter.

Right before adding the batter to the greased pan add baking soda or fruit salt (ENO) to the batter. give it a good stir & pour it into the pan.

Put the lid & steam it for about 10 minutes. you would know if the dhokla is steamed by looking at its texture. Place the pan on the counter to cool it off. Cut into pieces.

For seasoning - Heat the pan with oil, add mustard seeds. Let it sputter. slit 2 chilies & take out the seeds. Add it along with asafetida & dry coconut. switch off the stove. add 100 ml water to the seasoning. pour it over the dhokla. Garnish it with cilantro.

Enjoy it with ketch up, mango dip, green or any kind of chutney you like.