As mentioned in my previous post, I have been getting varied request to write on different items. Covering all the request at a time will be a challenging task. So I have planned to have different food festivals each month by which I will cover different cuisines and a variety of recipes.
Since I am a gujju, and am getting countless requests for gujarati recipes, I will be starting off with a “Gujarati Food Festival”, wherein I will cover few popular gujarati items. My target is one recipe a week. So I will try to cover 4-5 recipes for each food festival.
So I start off this festival today with the most popular gujarati dish; the traditional gujarati Khaman Dhokla. I am sure when I talk about gujarati food, this will be the first dish that will come to your mind.
Basically there are two types of Dhoklas; one the yellow ones that are made out of besan or chana dal which are called “Khaman or Khaman Dhokla” and the other are the white ones that are made out of rice and urad dal which are called as “Dhokla or Khatta Dhokla”. These two are the standard varieties of Dhoklas. With the combination of these two basic variants; you can make different varieties like the sandwich dhokla, trirangi dhokla, paneer dhokla etc etc.. In addition to these two variants, there are additional varieties that are made out of rawa, moong dal etc; but are not popular in the market.
Today we will be talking about “Khaman Dhokla” – the yellow ones.. Dhokla can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as an evening snack too. So you can say it’s an all-rounder and fits well anytime during the day.. Also this is a preferred item by the health conscious people, as it is steamed, requires very less oil and does not contain much masalas too..
There are two ways in which you can make the Khaman Dhokla. One is by soaking chana dal for 5-6 hours and grinding it; or the instant one with the use of besan. My personal favorite is the former one.. So, I will be writing on the same..
Again this is a very simple and easy recipe. So let’s get started…
Ingredients:
For Dhokla:
Chana Dal – 2 cups
Salt – As per taste
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Fruit Salt (Eno) – 2 tsp
For Tempering:
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Jeera – 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds – 1 tsp
Green Chilies – 3-4 pcs
Asafetida (Hing) – a pinch
Curry Leaves – few leaves
Method:
Step 1
Soak the chana dal in water overnight (5-6 hours)
Step 2
After the dal is soaked, grind the dal roughly (not in a fine paste) with a little water.
Step 3
Add lemon juice, sugar and salt to the batter and mix well. Just before steaming, add the fruit salt to the batter and mix well. Pour the mixture into a greased thali and steam for 15 mins on high flame. Once cooked, keep aside till it cools down.
The fruit salt (ENO) helps the Dhokla to become soft and spongy. Also ensure that once you have added the fruit salt, immediately put the batter for steaming. Leaving the batter for a while will vanish the effect of the fruit salt and your Dhokla will turn out hard.
Step 4
Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds & Jeera. Once the seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds, green chilies, curry leaves and asafetida, and stir for a second or two and remove from flame.
Step 5
Add 2 tbsp of water and pour the tempering over the Dhokla. Cut the Dhokla into equal pieces and serve immediately.
For the Instant Khaman Dhokla, you need to used besan instead of chana dal. As it is instant Khaman Dhokla, you need not soak it overnight. All the other ingredients and steps remain the same.
The CA Cooks.. 