Khaman Dhokla

So soft and so spongy. Isnt it? I remember my dad used to get them for us.. almost all weekend...from the famous haldiram's when we were in nagpur... that is when I started liking this comfort snack. They used to serve this with fried and salted green chillies.... yumm believe me my mouth is watering now..:P I am drooling hehehe:P

Anyways there also another way of serving this delicious dhokla. I had this at a friends place when I was doing my degree. You need to crumple the dhoklas (once cold ) with ur hands . Be gently when ur doing this. Dont mash the dhokla..:) put the crumples on ur serving plate. Drizzle tamarind chutney and garnish with sev and coriander leaves. Nice isnt it? Adding onions will add to the taste here...:P

Anyways.. going back to the recipe..


Ingredients:

Gram flour (Besan) : 1 cup

Yoghurt : 1 cup

Semolina : 2 tbsp

Warm water : 1/4 cup

Green chillies : 1 finely chopped

Fresh corinader leaves : 3 tbsp

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder : 1 tsp

Lemon juice : 3 tsp

Eno's fruit salt : 1 tsp


For tadka (tempering)

Oil : 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds : 1 tsp

Asafoetida (hing) - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds (optional) - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 1 chopped




Method :

In a bowl take the gram flour and semolina. Put in the yoghurt, salt, cilantro, lemon juice and green chillies into the flour and mix well to form a smooth batter. Add water if u feel the batter is too thick. See that the batter is nice and smooth and no lumps r formed. The batter should be of a pouring consistency.

Keep the batter aside and let it rest for an hour.

Now in a deep bottomed saucepan or pressure cooker... take some water and heat it at medium high. Place the cake rake into it. You can do this in a cooker too.

After the water starts to boil, turn down the heat to medium.

Add Eno to the batter and mix well. the batter will foam up. Now, quickly pour the batter into the greased cake pan.

Place the cake pan inside the saucepan/cooker on the cake rack. Cover the saucepan /cooker and steam for 10- 15 minutes on medium heat.

Test the dhokla with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, your dhokla is done. Off the heat and remove the cake pan out. let it cool to room temperature. Cut it into pieces.

In another vessel heat some oil and put all the ingredients of the tempering into the oil once the oil is hot enough. Pour the seasoning over the dhoklas and serve along with chutney.

I garnished it with some coriander leaves and sev too...Tasted good.:)


(Now some words about how to steam this dhokla. There are two ways to do it.

- One u can steam it easily in a pressure cooker, using a greased steel round pan (cake pan), pour the batter in it and steam for 10-15 minutes...or

- by steaming it in a deep bottomed vessel filling it with water (water level just enough to touch the base of the greased cake pan. Remember to keep a cake rack below the cake pan so that u dont burn the base of the dhoklas..) and covering with a lid. U can grease a cake pan, pour the batter and place it in this boiling water to steam. )



Your yum and fluffy dhokla is ready. Serve it with some tamarind or green chutney. Or crumble it and serve like an upma..:) Enjoy it. !