Easy to make Gujarati Dhokla

Life Style: Dhokla is a nutritious, steamed vegetarian gram flour snack from Gujarat in western India, but it is popular throughout the country. It is sometimes served for breakfast like coffee cake, often with tamarind and mint-coriander chutney. Some people like to make a sandwich of Dhokla by adding chutney between two slices of it.

Material

1 (500g) bag Bengal gram flour (besan)

1 1/2 cups sour curd

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon green chilli paste, add more if you like it more spicy

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

2 tablespoons fruit salt or baking soda

salt to taste

2 tbsp vegetable or canola or sunflower cooking oil for tempering

1 teaspoon black mustard

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

6 to 8 curry leaves

2 green chillies, cut lengthwise

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander for garnish

Method

Sieve the gram flour. Mix it with curd and keep aside for 2 hours.

Make a thick batter by adding ginger and green chilli paste, turmeric powder, salt as per taste, lemon juice and sugar and enough hot water. mix well.

Divide the batter into 3 equal parts.

Prepare a steamer and grease a square or rectangular pan to steam the dhokla.

Divide the fruit salt/baking soda into three equal parts and add one part to one part of the batter. mix well. Pour this batter in a smooth vessel and put it in the steamer.

Cook until cooked – your fingers should come out clean when you touch the surface of the dhokla.

Repeat with remaining batter, adding fruit salt/baking soda to each batch of batter just before steaming.

Let the boiled dhokla cool slightly and cut into 2 inch square pieces.

To make the tadka, heat oil in a wide, thick-bottomed pan and add the curry leaves, mustard seeds, sesame seeds and green chillies. Roast until the seeds stop popping. Put them in hot water. Sprinkle this mixture over the prepared dhokla. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with tamarind chutney and mint-coriander chutney.