Dhokla’s an extremely popular Gujarati dish…. You will see that Dhokla is usually made using split chickpeas (also popularly known as Bengal gram ki dal or chane ki dal).
Dhokla is a ready to eat snack recipe which is so wonderfully healthy because it is a steamed snack.
Sometimes people like to cook Dhokla out of chickpea flour (that’s gram flour, which is also better identified as besan). If you aren’t too fond of besan, you could also cook Dhokla using mung ki dal (which is nothing but split green lentils).
Another popular option for the same that I have seen people relishing is dhokla’s made from a mixture of urad ki dal (which is white lentils) and rice.
Like I said, it’s a simple recipe….easy to cook and prepare….its light food and extremely healthy….so go ahead and treat yourself to this delicious snacky!
INGREDIENTS (serves 4):
- One (1) tablespoon baking soda (also known as soda bi carbonate)
- Half (1/2) a cup of plain dahi (yogurt)- you must make sure it is a bit sour
- One (1) cup of water
- Two (2) cups full of besan (chickpea /gram flour)
- One and a half (1 ½) tablespoons of sugar- if you like to use this, go ahead. If you wish to omit this, not a problem.
- Half (1/2) a tablespoon of garlic (lahsun)paste
- Some salt- to taste
- Half (1/2) a tablespoon of ginger (adrak) paste
- Half (1/2) a tablespoon of Turmeric (haldi) powder
- Half (1/2) tablespoon of green chili (use a paste)
Seasoning
- One (1) tablespoon of oil
- Two (2) tablespoons of coriander (chopped up)
- Half (1/2) a tablespoon of cumin seeds
- Half (1/2) a tablespoon of mustard seeds
- Around 6-8 fresh Curry leaves
- One (1) tablespoon fresh lemon juice
METHOD:
- The first thing to do is place some besan or gram flour inside a big bowl. Now, take the dahi (yogurt) and throw that in. Mix the besan with the dahi well, add some water and then beat the mixture until you can see that it has turned into a smooth batter or paste.
- Put this paste aside so it can ferment. Leave for around 4 to 5 hours. You will see that this fusion will swell in size with time.
- Next, add to the batter the garlic paste, chili paste, ginger paste, and salt to taste.
- Now take a smaller bowl, put in the baking soda and mix it in one (1) tablespoon of water.
- Take a pressure cooker or a steamer (whichever you prefer), heat it with around one and a half (1 ½) cups of water, so you can steam the Dhokla.
- Next, add the baking soda mixture into the besan (flour) mixture and blend well.
- Immediately, Pour this into a flat and oil greased vessel/thali/cake tin.
- Now steam for close to 15-20 minutes.
- Once done, take out the cover and turn off the gas/heat.
- Allow it to cool down for 5 minutes.
- Take it out on a serving plate and slice into square pieces.
- Next, you need to prepare the Dhokla seasoning
Heat some oil in pan.
Add the cumin and mustard seeds to the oil.
The seeds will start to splutter. Once this is done, throw in the curry leaves.
Pour this mixture on top of the Dhokla pieces.
Sprinkle some freshly chopped coriander.
Squeeze some lime juice on top.
