Dhokla

Having lived in Mumbai all my life i have always been surrounded by Gujarati sweetmeat shops. Everytime i passed these shops i would hog on the fluffiest, softest and spongiest Dhoklas ever. Here is how I try to recreate the same dhoklas in my kitchen

Ingredients:

500 gms Besan (Chickpea Flour)

1 cup Yoghurt (not very sour)

1 cup Water

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp green chilli paste (or more)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp fruit salt/ soda bi carbonate

Salt to taste

Tempering:

2 tbsp. Oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Few curry leaves

2-3 green chillies slit lengthwise

1/2 cup water

Garnish:

Cilantro (finely chopped)

Coconut ( freshly grated)

Method:

- Sieve besan and mix it with the yoghurt. The batter should be of a thick consistency. Keep this aside for 2 hours.

- Mix in the ginger paste, green chilli paste, turmeric powder, salt, lime juice and sugar.

- Prepare the steamer and grease a pan to steam the dhokla in.

- Mix the fruit salt gently into the batter, you will be able to see bubbles. (In case you want to make the dhokla in batches, remember to add the fruit salt/ baking soda to each batch of batter just before steaming and not before)

- Immediately pour the batter into the greased dish and put it into the steamer. The batter will rise while cooking so the pan should not be filled to the brim.

- Cook the dhokla till a toothpick comes out clean and has no batte sticking on it. (You can use rice cooker or pressure cooker or idli cooker for steaming dhoklas)

- Allow the steamed Dhokla to cool slightly and cut into squares.

- For the seasoning/tempering heat the oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Also add the curry leaves and green chillies.

- Pour this into the warm water kept aside for tempering and Sprinkle this mixture all over the prepared Dhokla and keep it aside for 10 mins.

- Garnish with the cilantro and coconut and serve with Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney.