Here is another quick and easy snack recipe – Khaman Dhokla. Dhokla is a popular dish from Gujarat made from ground chana dal or gram flour. It is so famous all over Bangalore that any chaat stall is sure to have fresh Khaman Dhokla. And that’s how I got acquainted with this delicacy 🙂
Dhokla is a very healthy snack that can be easily made at home. As this is steamed and not fried, Dhokla is very filling yet not adding too much calories to your intake. I love love love a good Dhokla and that would be my first choice if we are in any North Indian chaat center. Although it is very easy to make at home, I have been putting it off as I didn’t want to make more than a few pieces. These are the times I miss our family a lot. With everyone around, food vanishes super fast!
One fine day, the opportunity presented itself. I was out of dinner ideas and decided to turn this quick snack into our very quick dinner 🙂 This version that I am sharing today is the most basic one. As it can be made instantly (with no fermentation), I have used fruit salt to get the texture of the dhokla light. It indeed was very light and airy. With the addition of fried green chillies and an aromatic tempering along with fresh coconut, this turned out to be amazing – even if I say so myself. The recipe is from a local chaatwaala (a guy selling this stuff near our house) and I just followed it without much changes. Khaman Dhokla is usually served with mint-coriander chutney and sweet-spicy red chutney!
Crush one or two green chillies in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
Grease the pan to steam the dhokla with ½ teaspoon of oil. Keep all the ingredients ready.
In a bowl add gram flour, salt as needed, crushed green chillies, semolina/sooji and curd. Mix well. The mixture would be thick. Add some water and make sure there are no lumps. The batter has to be neither too thick nor thin.
Keep a steamer ready by boiling water. When the steamer is ready, add the fruit salt (eno salt plain flavored) into the batter and quickly mix well. The batter would rise immediately and become very frothy. Pour it immediately into a greased pan and steam it for 15 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from heat.
Once the steamed dhokla cools down for 5 mins, run a knife along the edges and unmould it. Cut it into equal parts. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat 2 teaspoon of oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add asafoetida and slit green chillies along with fresh curry leaves. Fry for a minute and then pour ¼ cup of water. Add 2 teaspoon of sugar and salt as needed. Let the water come to a boil. Remove from heat.
Using a spoon, pour this tempered water all over the cut dhokla pieces making sure the water is absorbed well. Finally sprinkle grated coconut all over the top.
Serve hot with green chutney made with mint-coriander-green chillies.
Adjust the quantity of green chillies as per spiciness required. Additionally crushed ginger can also be added to the batter. It is essential to place the dhokla for steaming right after adding the fruit salt. If not, it can deflate and result in a tougher dhokla. Instead of fruit salt or eno salt, ¾th teaspoon of baking powder can be used. To get grated coconut, grind coconut pieces for few secs in a blender.
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