Khaman Dhokla

Today I am posting the recipe of Khaman Dhokla a Gujarati delicacy.  My room mate in Hyderabad used to love these Dhoklas. Every time we went shopping to the supermarket on Sundays, we used to check whether ready made Dhoklas were available and buy them. She taught me to enjoy these Dhoklas with its special chutney if it was available. Otherwise she used to mix and prepare some Tamarind based chutney very quickly and serve. Well, it sort of became a routine with us. And since old habits die hard,  after coming to US, I decided to prepare them at home. Searched recipes online and found microwave based and steaming versions. As always, I decided to try the easy and quick one first. Found out half way of preparing the dish that I dont have fruit salt with me. Tried with baking soda and lime juice. But they didnt taste like the ready made ones we used to buy and the color was orange rather than yellow. But still taste was good. For my second attempt with the microwave version, I tried with fruit salt and they came out well. Looked the right color, tasted really good. But still it didnt taste like the ones I used to buy. I was left wondering about the authentic taste of the Dhoklas. 

I decided to try the steaming version next. I searched many recipes and saw that some required soaking chana dal alone and some required soaking both chana dal and rice. And they were some recipes with Gram Flour ( Besan). Since my first two attempts were with  gram flour, I decided to try with Chana Dal this time. Hmm.. But requires a bit of time for cooking. Any way I decided to go for it and let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I soaked dal alone overnight and in the morning ground it to a coarse paste. Then added curd, salt, lime juice and let it ferment till evening. When I opened it in the evening, I knew that it was going to taste like my ready made ones. The smell I got reminded me in fact of my ready made ones. Added turmeric, green chilly - ginger paste, fruit salt and steamed for around 15 - 20 min. Came out fluffy and soft. Loved them. Thoroughly delicious. Enjoy them with a cuppa Tea. Adapted the recipe mostly from here.

Khaman Dhokla :

Ingredients:

For the Dhokla Batter:

1 cup Chana Dal or Split Bengal Gram
1/2 - 1 Tbsp Fenugreek Powder or Methi Powder (Optional)
2 Tbsp Sour curd or yoghurt
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice or Juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp Green Chilly - Ginger Paste
1 Tbsp Eno Fruit Salt
1/4 Tbsp Turmeric
3/4 cup Water
Salt
Oil for greasing

For the Tempering:

3 - 4 Tbsp Oil
1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
A pinch of hing or asfoetida
5 - 6 Curry Leaves
1 - 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice and Little water
Chopped Coriander Leaves for garnishing



Prepping:

Step 1: Soak Chana Dal overnight. 
Step 2: Next day, ground the chana dal first with out adding water. Then slowly add water as needed for grinding the chana dal to a coarse paste. It took 3/4 cup of water for me. 
Step 3: Then add salt, 2 Tbsp Lemon juice and 2 Tbsp sour curd. Mix well. Leave it to ferment for 5 to 6 hrs.

Method of Preparing:

Step 1: 

Add ginger - green chilly paste, fenugreek powder and turmeric to the batter. 

Step 2: 

Grease  the plate of the steamer with oil. Keep the steamer on a medium flame. I used Idly steamer for making the Dhoklas and the batter I poured in one of my cake pans which fitted well inside the steamer.

Step 3:

Now add fruit salt to the batter. Stir to mix the fruit salt in the batter. Do not overmix. 

Step 4:

Immediately after adding the fruit salt, pour the batter into the steamer plate and let it steam for 15 - 20 min. Check whether its done by inserting a Knife into the Dhoklas. If it comes out well, its done and switch off. 

Step 5:

Now let the Dhokla cool. Then slowly unmould onto a plate like how you unmould a cake. 
Use the Knife along the edges of the steamer plate to unmould. Then place a plate on top of the steamer plate and carefully reverse the plate. 

Step 6: Tempering

Heat a non stick pan. Add 3 - 4 Tbsp Oil. when the oil becomes hot, add mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add hing and cumin seeds. Then after 2 min, add sesame seeds and curry leaves. My curry leaves got over. So I didnt use them. 

Step 7:

After 2 min, remove the pan from the flame and carefully add lemon juice and a little water. Pour the tempering over the unmoulded Dhoklas. 

Slice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 

Serve with mint coriander green chutney or along with Tomato Sauce. By the way, they are delightful enough to have them simply. Enjoy with a cup of Masala Tea or Coffee Latte or even Hot Cocoa. A delicious evening snack or sometimes even the break fast :)

Note: You can also garnish with some scraped coconut. 

Sending the recipe to the event WTML started By Gayathri of Gayathri's cookspot and hosted by Sowmya of Nivedhanam this month. 



Also sending the recipe to the event "My legume love affair" started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook and now taken care by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. This month the event is hosted by Sizzling Tastebuds. 



Sending the recipe to Jagruti's My bowl of Snack event.