Dhoklas are a Gujarati snack made of a fermented batter of rice and besan flour which is steamed and then cut into squares. Fermenting batter takes so long so I was excited when I found out about khaman dhoklas which only use besan flour. They are fairly simple to make and are super light, moist and fluffy. Last night, my husband Tejas wanted Gujarati dal and rice so I thought this would be a good time to try out khaman dhokla for an appetizer and I really enjoyed how they came out! This recipe is adapted from this recipe on the Chef In You.

1/2 cups yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups besan flour (chickpeas/gram flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1-2 teaspoons sugar
Small squeeze of lemon juice
Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Eno (fruit salt – it makes the dhokla fluffy, you can get it at an Indian market or or on Amazon)
1 teaspoon oil + 2 teaspoons water mixed
2 teaspoons more oil
1 teaspoon mustard Seeds
2 green chilis chopped
6-7 curry leaves

1. Whisk the yogurt and water together.
2. Slowly whisk in the besan flour little by little until a smooth batter forms.
3. Whisk in the baking soda and then let the batter sit for about an hour.
4. Next mix in the oil, turmeric, ginger paste, sugar, lemon juice and salt.
5. Get your cooking gear ready. The dhoklas need to steam. I used a pressure cooker without the whistle and two pressure trays (similar to these). Lightly grease one of the trays and leave the other empty. Put just enough water in the pressure cooker so that the two trays won’t float and get it boiling.
6. Just before steaming, whisk in the Eno, and pour into the greased tray.
7. Put both trays in the pressure cooker, the empty one on the bottom, cover and let steam for 10-12 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). The steam will come out the top of the pressure cooker.
8. Take the dhokla tray out and lightly brush the dhokla with the oil and water mixture (I used a baster). This makes it nice and moist.
9. Heat the rest of the oil in a tadka or other small pan, and add the mustard seeds.
10. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the green chilis and curry leaves for a couple more seconds.
11. Pour over the dhokla, cut into squares and serve with cilantro chutney.