Friday, April 12, 2013

LOVE MY DHOKLA!!

As I mentioned before that when it comes to food, I really dont think too much of the calories, since it spoils my taste. My habbit is to eat the food, and then worry about the calories, feel guilty for a split second and then say "aaaaahhhhh what can I do", and move on..... But it is not that I like only calorie laden food. There are sooo many things that are low on cals, but still taste awesome, and today's recipe is one of them. Dhokla. It is a humble steamed cake that hails from the Gujarati cuisine, though I have seen various other parts also making versions of this. It has surely become a favourite amongst most people owing to the healty yet delicious factor. I just looooove dhokhla, but I like one where the sweetnees of the sugar and tartness of lime is balanced. I dont like a bland dhokla with a overly sweet syrup like tadka, or one where there is little sweetness. There are very few places in Delhi which have that balanced tasted, and there are unfortunately NONE in Nairobi. And there are times, when I just crave to eat this spongy sweet and sour snack, which I can gorge on guiltfree. The result of many many trials and errors finally resulted one day in the following. There have been soooo many experiments, some turning out hard like rock, some uncooked, some falling apart - but this one was perfecct, and I was sooo happy. Happy for the fact that my craving is over, I will not have to crave anymore..... Here goes the recipe





Ingredients

For the base / dhokla

1 cup - besan / gramflour
2 tspn - rawa / sooji / semolina
1/2 tspn - citric acid
1/4 tspn - baking soda
1/2 tspn - turmeric powder
2 tbspn - sugar
1/4 tspn - salt
1/4 tspn - grated ginger
1/4 tspn - green chilli paste (optional)
2 tspn - oil
1/4 tspn - hing (levelled)

For the tadka

1 tbspn - oil
1/2 tspn - mustard seeds / sarson daane
1/4 tspn - cumin seeds
curry leaves - a few sprigs
1/2 tsp - salt
2 tbspn - sugar
1 cup - water

For garnish
Grated carrots
Grated coconut
Chopped corriander
Green chillies

Recipe

For the base / dhokla

Mix all the ingredients except the bakind soda and add water to make a thick pourable paste
Ensure there are no lumps
Once this batter is formed, add the baking soda and beat till the batter rises
Keep aside for about 5-10 minutes
Grease a glass bowl and pour the batter
Now steam the same for about 15 minutes, checking if the batter has cooked through
I am assuming at this stage that this can also be microwaved.  It may take about 8 minutes.

For the tadka
In a pan heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds
Once they sputter add the curry leaves.
Now pour in the water and once boiled add the sugar and salt

Pour this onto the dhokla and leave it for about 1/2 hour

Garnish with the grated carrots, coconut and corriander leaves
You can also make the chillies.  I just leave a little water from the tadka, slit the chillies add some sugar, salt, garam masala, amchoor and fry them for 3 minutes.

I am assuming that the type of gramflour and other factors make a difference how the dhokla turns out. 




10 comments:

Julie said...

yummy dhoklas,love it always!!

Priya Suresh said...

The colour of the dish itself is very pleasing and attractive,delicious dhokla.

Shella said...

Thanks Julie. I really love it very much.

Thank you Priya

Suja Manoj said...

This dish is wonderful,tempting breakfast.

Padhu Sankar said...

Looks so tempting!

Priya Elias said...

The dhokla looks delish Shella. I have been thinking of trying it out for long :)

AJ said...

Great snack! Loving it!

Teena said...

Mouthwatering Dhokla!! I'm loving your recipes Shella! Thanks a lot for visitng my blog. So happy to follow you too :) I'll be eagerly waiting to see more of your creativity!

Shella said...

Thanks ladies for those lovely comments

Nilu A said...

Love dhokla.. Nice presentation Shella :-)