Khaman Dhokla

          Dhoklas, this is one of my favorite snacks, it's not only tasty but healthy too, in fact, all of us at home love it. When I was back in the US, I got the chance to taste the best homemade dhoklas at my friend's place who is a Gujarati. When I made it at home, it was always from a readymade mix but I always wanted to try it out from scratch. This is my first attempt, or should I say second attempt, the first time I just tried it out to see if they turned out good, I didn't take any pictures. Now in India, we get organic besan flour and I have used it for making these dhoklas. They came out very well both the times, but on my first attempt, the dhoklas didn't have the nice yellow color, I think the flour that I used had a very dull yellow color. So, the second time, I added some turmeric powder to the flour, but I think I should have mixed the turmeric powder to the water and then mixed the water with the flour, instead of directly adding it to the flour, so that it'll mix evenly with the flour and not give a spotty look to the finished dhokla. But, other than that, the dhoklas turned out very spongy and they tasted very good with some green chutney..

Need To Have

• Besan Flour/ Gram Flour - 1 cup
• Rava/ Semolina - 2 tablespoons
• Green Chilly - 1
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 4 teaspoons
• Eno, Fruit Salt - 2 teaspoons
• Water - 3/4 cup
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• White Sesame Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Grated Coconut to garnish
• Salt to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Blend together the green chilly, ginger, 2 tablespoons of the besan flour along with a little water from the 3/4 cup of water given.

          Take the remaining besan flour in a wide bowl, add the semolina, sugar, salt and turmeic powder.

          Add the lemon juice, chilly-ginger paste and the water and mix it very well without any lumps. Grease a thali ( a plate which has edges that is about 2" tall ) and keep it ready.

          Now add the Eno fruit salt, mix it nicely till it foams up.

          Immediately pour it in the thali and steam it for about 15 minutes.

          Remove the plate, let it cool and remove it (place a plate over the cooked dhokla and turn it upside down). Now heat some oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida and the sesame seeds, cover the pan with a plate and switch off. Once the sesame seeds stops splattering, spread it with a spoon over the dhokla. Slice it into small pieces, garnish it with the chopped coriander and coconut. Serve it with green chutney ( coriander chutney ).

Note
You'll find Eno fruit salt in Indian grocery stores.
Don't avoid the sesame seeds, it gives a nice crunchy taste.
The most important thing is, as soon as we add the Eno salt we have to pour it in the plate and steam, if doing large quantities, you can mix everything, but separate into batches, and add the Eno salt just before steaming.
I have used a plate that is about 5" in diameter and I have steamed it in a regular pot only, I have used the pressure cooker lid just for covering it.