Khaman Dhokla, was in my To-Do list for quite a while and finally i made it!. Khaman Dhokla is a famous traditional Gujarati savoury dish made using gram flour or channa dal. Its very soft like sponge and fluffy in texture. You can also serve as a starter and it makes a great appetizer. Now a days most people prefer to make the Dhokla using the 'instant' version which is made using the ready made Gram Flour. I am yet to try this version, but I heard from my friends that the instant version won't be very soft as we get from the conventional method which I have given below. It turned out very good and very soft like spongy and fluffy in the very first attempt! In the conventional method, instead of using the ready made gram flour, we need to soak the gram dal (Bengal gram dal) overnight and make the dough which further needs to be kept aside for about 6-8 hours for fermentation. Though this method requires little bit of planning and long procedure, but the outcome will be very good and you will never go wrong !.
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| Khaman Dhokla |
We need to add ENO which will act as a raising agent of the flour. If ENO is not available handy I have been told by my friends that we can substitute with equal measurement of baking soda(Sodium BiCarbonate) and citric acid. ButIi haven't tried and tested it yet.
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| Khaman Dhokla |
You can serve Dhokla with fried chillies, green chutney or with finely chopped onions. Let's see how to make fluffy, spongy Khaman Dhokla. Follow the simple instructions and step by step pictures for you to follow and you will never go wrong
| Preparation Time | 6 hours for soaking dal |
| Preparation Time | 8 hours for fermenting |
| Cooking Time | 30 mins |
| Yield | 15 Dhoklas |
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| Khaman Dhokla |
Ingredients:
| Channa dal (Kadala Paruppu) | 1 Cup* |
| Yoghurt | 2 tablespoon |
| Oil | 3 tablespoon |
| Green chilli | 2 |
| Ginger | 1 inch piece |
| Turmeric | ¼ teaspoon |
| Eno Salt** | 1 teaspoon |
| Lemon Juice | 1 teaspoon |
| Chopped Coriander Leaves | 1 tablespoon |
| Salt | To Taste |
* 1 Cup Capacity = 250ml
For Seasoning:
| Oil | 1 tablespoon |
| Mustard seeds | 1 teaspoon |
| Hing | ¼ teaspoon |
| Green Chillies | 3 |
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| Khaman Dhokla |
Method:
- Wash and soak the channa dal in water for 6 hours. After that, drain the water from the channa dal and take it to the mixer
- Add 1 tablespoon of curd and 1.5 tablespoon of oil to the dal taken in the mixer. The curd and oil helps to grind the channa dal nicely in the mixer. Grind it to get a thicker and slightly coarse batter
- Ferment the batter atleast for 8 hours. The fermentation process doesn't make the batter to raise, so do not panic. We can take the fermented batter and we need to add spice and for that grind the ginger and green chilli to a paste and add it to the fermented batter along with remaining 1 tablespoon curd, oil and salt and give a nice stir and finally add lemon juice and give a stir. This spice mixed dhokla batter can be stored in refrigerator for 4 days or we can freeze it and it will be good for many days.
- Grease a cake tin or cooker vessel with oil and keep it ready. Eno Salt, is the main ingredient which makes the batter raise up and it helps in getting softer and sponge dhokla. But we need to add eno salt only before we make up the dhoklas. We should not add eno salt and refrigerate the batter. The moment you add the eno salt, you could see bubbles in the batter and it makes the the batter lighter and you could feel that when you are giving a stir
- Pour the batter in the greased vessel and gently tap it to spread the batter evenly in the vessel. Steam cook the dhokla batter for atleast 15-20 minutes. You could just insert a knife after 20 minutes, to see it it comes out clean. That will help us to know that the dhokla is cooked completely. When the dhoklas are steam cooked, take them out and allow it to cool off for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, using a spread knife cut the dhoklas into square pieces
- Gently flip the dhokla into a plate and you could see square pieces of dhoklas in the plate. If we take a piece of dhokla you could actually see lots of pores which makes the dhokla softer and spongy
- Meanwhile , in a pan add oil and add mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add hing and slit green chillies and fry for a minute and then remove from flame. Sprinkle the seasoned ingredients on top of each dhokla pieces
- The Yummy and Spongy Khaman Dhokla is now ready to serve!
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| Khaman Dhokla |
