Dhokla – A Steamed Snack

Humming in the sleep with an idea that it’s morning time now…time to wake up… Mum’s Chitrahaar used to play in full volume at 9 am and Papa was out to buy the fresh vegetables and grocery… Mum in the kitchen humming the music and preparing the breakfast…Since it’s a Sunday breakfast we, the kids, were sure of the variety and delicacies… With the sniff, I used to recall the aroma in the air… It used to be kind of sour aroma almost similar to the times when mum prepare Kadhi…But But But… It’s not Kadhi in the morning…it’s DHOKLA… An authentic Gujarati delicacy which is steamed and flavorful though prepared using simple ingredients… The moment I use to recognize it is Dhokla…the next step was usually to go to the garden to collect Curry leaves for the tempering… Every step done and  now time to Binge.. Binge on the droolicious Gujrati flavors and celebrate the Sunday. 🙂

Image cc: Google

Dhokla (Gujarati: ઢોકળા ḍhōkḷā) is a vegetarian food item that originates from the Indian state of Gujarat. [ Source: Wikipedia]

There are different kinds of dhokla prepared with different ingredients and ratios of chickpeas. Some of the popular kinds of dhoklas are:

• Khatta dhokla
• Rasia dhokla
• Khandhavi dhokla
• Cheese dhokla
• Toor dal dhokla
• Sandwich dhokla
• Rawa dhokla
• Mixed dal dhokla
• Green peas dhokla

Khaman is a similar gram flour-based food. Whereas dhokla is made with rice and chickpeas, khaman is made from chickpeas only. It is generally lighter in color and softer than dhokla, to make dhokla small proportion of baking soda is added while in khaman more baking soda is added to make it more fluffy spongy and porous.

Dhokla was one of the very regular dish at my place and mum always used to prepare it in Pressure Cookers… I don’t know why but I remember she always cover the Dhokla pan with Brown paper… Don’t know why.. 🙂 But it was a tradition at my home.. This week when for the 103rd Foodie Monday bloghop theme was decided to be #SteamedRecipe…The only recipe which I wanted to prepare was Dhokla… I wanted to recall that aroma of the good old times… the flavors…the mingling time and the memories! 🙂

So hereby presenting my version of Authentic Khaman Dhokla prepared from scratch.

P.S – This recipe is inspired by the Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe of Khaman Dhokla

Let’s have a look at the recipe.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 3 hrs + 15 mins

Serving time:  10 mins

Ingredients

For Dhokla

• 2 cups Gramflour ( Besan )
• 1 cup Whisked Curd
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Ginger Chilli paste
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Oil

For Tempering

• 2 tbsp Curry Leaves
• 1 tbsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Oil

 

Method

• Sieve Gram flour. Add curd and mix well. Add Salt. Keep aside for 3 hrs for Fermenting.
• Now, once after 3 hrs, you will see bubbles upon the batter. Mixture has fermented.
• Grease the mould in which you want your Dhokla to be steamed. Heat your steamer.
• In a bowl, whisk Lemon juice, Baking soda, Oil and Chilli ginger paste. Add in the mixture.
• Mix lightly. Pour the batter into the Mould.
• Put it in steamer and steam for 10-12 mins. Do the knife test and once the knife comes out clean meaning your Dhokla is done.
• Once cooled, take it out on a plate
• For tempering, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add water, sugar and lemon juice. Let it simmer for 3 mins. Tempering is made.
• Pour it over your Dhokla. Cut into square pieces and serve

Bon appetit! 🙂

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