Spinach Dhokla

Photo By: Adam Ahmed

 

Spring has sprung and I’m celebrating a new beginning with a fresh start on Fusia with Kin Community on “What’s Your Flavour”!

We’re going to be preparing a healthy and protein packed Spinach Dhokla. A Dhokla is savoury steamed cake typically eaten as a snack or a hearty breakfast. It originated in the state of Gujarat, but is popular all over India. There are many varieties of Dhoklas, they can be made with semolina, soaked dhal or gram flour .We’re making this with gram flour and yogurt and are going to really bump up the flavour and color with pureed spinach. Dhoklas should be light, soft, spongy and typically a bit sour. To me the best part of the Dhokla is the tadka or tempering with mustard seeds, green chilies and curry leaves.

There is yogurt in this recipe but it’s ok to omit the yogurt if you want this to be dairy free. Your batter should be of a pouring consistency.

Dhokla steamers are available in Indian stores and come in various shapes and sizes, but I’m going to create my own by using a large pot. You want to make sure you have enough room for the steam to surround the batter. I place a small towel at the bottom, followed by an inverted mini colander. You can really use anything that will hold up to the heat, but a colander allows the steam to pass though. I add enough water so it’s a good couple of inches up the colander, and start to heat the water. I also cover it to build up the steam. Wait until the water has come to a rapid boil and the steam is pretty intense. Follow the recipe below and you will have delicious spongy and delicious Dhoklas!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 2 green chilies
  • Juice of a lime
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 cups sifted gram flour
  • 1/4 cup beaten yogurt
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup water
  • 2 tsps oil
  • 1 tsp black salt
  • 1 tsp Eno fruit salt
  • Oil
  • Mustard seeds
  • Curry leaves
  • Asafoetida

Process

  1. Grind the spinach, chilies and garlic together with the 1/4 cup of water to a smooth paste
  2. Place in a bowl and add the sifted chickpea flour
  3. Mix together well to remove all the lumps
  4. Add the yogurt and salt and mix well
  5. Add the water a little at a time blending as you go, till you achieve a runny consistency
  6. Create a steamer by adding water to a large pot and adding something like an inverted mini colander below and cover to build steam
  7. Grease a plate that will fit in your steamer
  8. Add one tsp of Eno fruit salt and mix well to combine and immediately scrape this into your greased dish and place in the steamer covered to cook for 10 – 12 minutes
  9. In a small sauté pan, create the tadka by heating some oil, mustard seeds, fresh curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida
  10. Once the Dhokla has cooled down, cut into diamond shapes
  11. Pour this over the cooled Dhokla, pour the tadka over it and allow it to sink in

 

Watch my step by step video – http://bit.ly/spinachdhokla

Photo by: Adam Ahmed

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