SQUASHY DHOKLA’S

When you think about Gujarati cuisine array of dishes comes to your mind and one of them is dhokla a savory spongy cake. It has a fluffy texture and low-calorie, healthy and protein-packed snack. A delicious steamed cake is prepared from Bengal gram flour (besan). It is tempered with chili, curry leaves, and mustard seeds.

It sweet and salt flavor when the dhokla is cooked a splatter of sugar syrup has pored and it makes the dhokla more spongy. It adds a hint of sweetness to the snack. Usually, it is made from fermented batter and has a pale yellow color and garnished it with tempering. 

Dhokla is a sweet and salty snack that comes from Gujrat and parts of adjacent states. In the state of Gujrat usual food as a sweet and salty flavor as they love this taste. It is a healthy snack as it is oil-free. If you want to make it more healthy you can avoid the sugar syrup. It is easily digestible as it is fermented.

Tips To Make Dhokla

You can add ginger and garlic to the batter which enhances the flavor of dhokla.

After adding fruit salt do not keep the batter for a long time otherwise dhokla will not be spongy.

Steam batter over medium flame to make them spongy. Do not steam it on high flame otherwise, it will not cook from inside.

Read More : HAVE YOU EVER TRIED PUMPKIN COOKIES??

Difference Between Dhokla And Khaman 

People usually don’t know the difference between dhokla and khaman. The difference between these two can only tell by a trained eye. As these two do not differentiate a lot it has some minute differences. These are soft spongy cake which is sweet and salty and served as a snack. 

Khaman is made up of fresh ground channa daal or channa flour (besan), soaked in water to make a soft thick paste which has a cake-batter like consistency. This is then baked to a spongy bread-like texture. Gram flour, semolina (Rava/suji), lemon juice and curd are some of the main ingredients used in baking Khaman. A final touch a tadka using curry leaves, hing (asafoetida), and chilies are added. 

It is made from a fermented batter of rice and split chickpeas and is pale yellow or white in color. It is usually served with curd or dhania chutney. Speaking of the texture, it is a little harder than khaman and is garnished with a tempering (tadka) of mustard seeds, coriander leaves, and split green chilies.

Instant Dhokla Recipe

Ingredients 

For Dhokla

• Gram flour 1 cup
• Curd 1/2 cup
• Ginger 1 inch
• Green chili 1
• Salt as taste
• Red chili powder 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric 1/2 tsp
• Fruit Salt 1 tsp
• Water 1/2 cup
• Oil 2 tbsp

For tempering

• Oil 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves 1 spring
• Asafetida 1/2 tsp
• Green chili 2
• Coconut water 1/2 cup
• Salt as taste
• Sugar 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves 1 tbsp

Method 

For Dhokla Batter

1. In a blender add curd, ginger, chili, and blend it.
2. In a mixing bowl take out the curd add gram flour, red chili powder, turmeric, salt and mix it well add water slowly, and make a smooth batter. Make sure there are no lumps. 
3. In another bowl add oil and fruit salt, mix well. Transfer this into the mixture and mix everything well.

For Steaming

1. Pour a glass of water into a 3 or 5 liters capacity pressure cooker and heat it over medium flame for 4-5 minutes before placing the greased plates. 
2. Place a small stand or a small bowl in the pressure cooker and place greased plates filled with batter over it. 
3. Close the pressure cooker lid and remove the whistle. Cook it over medium flame for 15 minutes.
4. After 15-minutes open the lid and insert the toothpick or knife to check if dhokla is cooked or not. If it is not cooked then cook it more for 5-minutes.

For Tempering

1. In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafetida, green chili let it splutter.
2. Add coconut water, salt to taste, sugar and coriander leave mix well.
3. Pour the tadka on the steam dhokla.