Khaman Dhokla, Soft Gujarati Khaman Dhokla recipe with step by step photos
For the khaman dhokla batter-
To make khaman dhokla batter, take 1 1/2 cups of besan or gram flour in a large mixing bowl. Besan or chickpea flour gives you a good dose of several nutrients, read 10 Super Health Benefits of Besan to know more.
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- Now add the semolina. Many people add a pinch of turmeric powder to this which will give the dhokla a beautiful yellow color. Since we are using fruit salt in the recipe, use very little turmeric powder as more haldi will react with the fruit salt and result in red spots in the dhokla. If you want you can avoid turmeric powder altogether like us.
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- Now add the sugar to the bowl.
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- Now add the ginger-green chilli paste.
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- Now add the lemon juice and salt. As this is a sweet and slightly sour dhokla, we add lemon juice. Alternately you can add citric acid (nimbu ka phool).
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- Now add approx. ¾ cup of water to the bowl.
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- Mix well using a whisk to get a smooth batter. The batter will have to mix very well as the sugar needs to dissolve properly. To get soft and fluffy khaman dhokla, beat the batter well before adding the fruit salt. The more you beat the batter, more air is incorporated resulting in soft-spongy khaman.
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Directions for steaming khaman dhokla in a steamer- Heat the water in the steamer. It should be bubbling. Ensure that the steamer is properly heated before placing the thali otherwise dhokla will take more time to cook resulting into hard Khaman.
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- Grease 175 mm. (7") diameter thali with a little oil.
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- Just before steaming, add the fruit salt. This will react with the lemon juice to give a fluffy batter. This recipe makes 1 thali (approximately 15 dhokla pieces). If you want, you can make in large quantity. Ensure that you prepare batter without adding fruit salt and divide and add it just before steaming.
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Pour 1 tsp water over the fruit salt to activate it. Do not let the Khaman Dhokla batter sit for too long after adding the fruit salt.
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Gently mix the fruit salt in the batter till just mixed. The Khaman Dhokla batter will look like this - airy and fluffy.
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- Pour the mixture immediately to the greased thali.
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Spread the Khaman Dhokla batter evenly by rotating the thali clockwise.
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Place in the steamer and steam in a steamer for 10 to 12 minutes or till the Khaman dhoklas are cooked. You can also cook khaman dhokla in a microwave. Check out this recipe for Quick Microwave khaman dhokla.
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Insert a knife or a toothpick to check if the dhoklas are cooked properly.
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For the tempering of Khaman dhokla- Heat the oil in a small non-stick pan and add the mustard seeds.
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- When the seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds to the pan.
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- Then add the asafoetida and curry leaves.
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- Now add the green chillies. Sauté on a medium flame for 30 seconds.
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- Remove from the flame, add ½ cup of water and mix well.
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- Pour the tempering over the prepared dhoklas and spread it evenly. Make sure the dhoklas are warm when you pour the tempering or else they will not soak the water in.
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Let the Khaman Dhoklas sit for 10-15 minutes till soft and spongy before serving.
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Cut Khaman Dhokla into even pieces.
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Garnish with coriander.
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- Serve the Khaman dhokla with green chutney and imli chutney.
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- Other non-fried Gujarati snacks that you might love to try Amiri Khaman, Green peas panki, Rice khichu.