Dhokla is a traditional dish from Gujarat, India. The texture resembles sponge cake but its little spicier. Normally it is made of mixture of rice and gram flour. We will go and make it more healthy and nutritious by using quinoa and oat flour. Also add some vegetables to it and layer it.
Ingredients:
§ 1.5 cup of powdered oat
§ 1.5 cup of powdered quinoa
§ 1 sachet Eno or 2 tsp Baking soda
§ 6 tsp olive oil
§ 1/2 cup shredded carrots
§ 1/2 cup cilantro
§ 1/4 cup green chillies
§ Green chatni 1/4 cup
§ 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
§ salt for taste
§ 2 cups of buttermilk or yogurt
§ 1tsp mustard seeds
§ 1/2 tsp asafoetida
§ 5-6 curry leaves
§ 1tsp coconut shreds and 1ts cilantro to garnish
Preparation:
- In a Blender blend dry oat and quinoa separately to form fine flour like texture
- In a mixing bowl add yogurt and or buttermilk and form thick batter by mixing well.
- Add salt to taste.
- Now make 3 equal portion of the batter and pour in 3 separate bowls.
- Add cilantro in one portion and mix well.
- Now heat the steamer.
- Grease the tray with the oil.
- Add 3rd portion of soda or eno to the cilantro batter, add 1 tsp oil and mix well.
- Now pour into the tray.
- Sprinkle green chillies and some more cilantro on the top to make a thin layer.
- Steam it for a minute.
- While it is steaming, add 3rd portion of soda or eno in the second bowl, add 1tsp oil and mix well.
- Take the tray off the steamer and pour the second layer and sprinkle 1/2 portion of shredded carrots evenly.
- Steam it for another 1 minute.
- While it is steaming, add red chili powder, carrot shreds and rest of the soda or eno in the third bowl and add 1 tsp oil and pour the final layer.
- Cover and bake it for another 5-6 minutes.
- Do the knife test to see if the knife comes out clean the dhokla is done.
- Your Dhokla is done. Cut them into squares.
- In a pan add 2 tsp of oil.
- Once the oil is smoking lightly, add mustard seeds.
- Once you hear them cracking, add the curry leaves, asafoetida and dhokla squares.
- Toss gently and take out on the serving plate.
- Garnish with coconut shreds and cilantro leaves.
Tips: Add eno or soda to the batter only when you are ready to pour the batter into the baking tray so that the dish turns out fluffy. Instead of the layers, you can add all the vegetables into the batter and just make one layer out of it. I would add zucchini and bell peppers. Also, normally I avoid the last step of pan frying dhokla once they are baked just to avoid the extra oil.