Recipe: Dhokla

Recipe: DHOKLA

Recently I’ve gone a bit bananas about this dish. It’s cooked at least once a week, every week in my house and because it’s both so easy and so tasty it’s become my favourite dish to share with my dhikr ladies.

This simple, classic Gujarati savoury snack called Dhokla  feels to me like soul food. I originally got it off the net, but we’ve cooked it so many times now it’s a staple of my cuisine. In other homes I’ve mostly eaten it made with gram flour, but this one is made with suji (semolina). The tastiness belies the ease. You will need a steamer and pyrex dish to fit. This version is a fairly low-fat one. If you were to add a fried garnish, the extra oil would bump up the calories. I sometimes do a fried garnish of mustard seeds and curry leaves, because I adore the flavor of curry leaves, but if my chutney has them in it, then I rarely do. Ideally you should mix the semolina with the yoghurt and leave it to ferment together for an hour or two. I rarely plan that far ahead; beating the ingredients well together works just fine.

DHOKLA Ingredients:

1 cup/mug suji (semolina)

1 cup/mug yoghurt, whisked

1 heaped tsp ginger paste

1 minced green chilli

1 Tbs chopped coriander

1 Tbs flavourless cooking oil (fresh, not previously used for frying)

1 tsp soda bicarb

½ tsp salt

Red chilli pepper to sprinkle.

DHOKLA Garnish:

                           Some fresh Coriander leaves chopped

1 TBS desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients well, pour into an oiled glass dish, sprinkle lightly with red chilli pepper.

2. Place in steamer, cover & steam for about 25 minutes.

3. Remove, sprinkle with desiccated coconut & the fresh coriander & leave to cool.

4. Serve either slightly warm or cooled. Slice into diamond shapes (easy way:  after scoring in straight lines, next score across at a 45 degree angle). Arrange pieces on a platter with space for a ramekin for the chutney.

DHOKLA chutney:

             1 cup coriander leaves

1 cup mint leaves (or I cup fresh curry leaves – don’t bother with dried ones)

1 whole green chilli or more to taste

Juice of two limes

1 Tbs desiccated coconut

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender (not in a food processor if it will only chop it fine as the texture you are looking for is creamy and smooth).

Drizzle some chutney over a piece, eat & feel good!

Bismillah!