Dhokla : Instant Soft Spongy Gujarati Recipe
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By Jyoti Tejpal
- Last Updated: September 4, 2020
Dhokla Recipe
Dhokla or Khaman is a popular vegetarian Indian refreshment snack from the state of Gujarat. It is served as a tea time snack in Gujarat with a variety of sweet and spicy homemade green chutney.
Dhokla is prepared with gram flour which is besan in Hindi, water, lemon juice, green chili, salt, and spices. It is a healthy snack or breakfast because it is a gluten-free and vegan in nature. Every family has their own recipe of making dhokla from scratch. The traditional dhokla recipe needs a tedious and overnight fermentation process so as to make the batter more airy and spongy for soft resulting dhokla.
Instant Dhokla is a soft, spongy, and quick recipe. It is an airy and easily digestible Indian breakfast cum snack made from gram flour (besan) or sooji (semolina). This dhokla recipe requires only 10 minutes to get ready!
Over the years it has been tried and tested dhokla recipe. After dumping many batches of dhokla into the trash, this recipe has been formulated which is spongy and time-friendly instant dhokla recipe.
The instant dhokla is the quicker version of the traditional dhokla recipe in which the fermentation time of the batter is decreased by using baking soda or fruit salt i.e., Eno.
The instant dhokla is full of taste and is spongy, light, airy with balanced sweetness, and spiciness. You may trust and zero-down to this foolproof dhokla recipe, it is one of the easiest Indian snacks to prepare at home. If you go by the calorie count as well, Dhokla is considered under the category of gluten-free vegan snacks. You may snack on dhokla during any given hour of the day. Once chilled in the fridge to the right temperature, it’s lemony juices tickle the taste buds which is served it a homemade green chutney for an authentic taste.
- Prep Time15 min
- Cook Time15 min
- Total Time30 min
- Yield1 Plate
- Serving Size200 g
- Energy136 cal
Ingredients
Ingredients of Dhokla
- 1 cup Bengal gram flour (Besan)
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Ginger paste (Adrak)
- 1 tsp Green chilli paste
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 180 ml water, or as required to make a batter
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder (haldi)
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp (heaped) Eno fruit salt (Plain)
For the tempering
- 2-3 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds (Rai)
- 1/2 tsp Asafetida (Hing)
- 9-10 Curry leaves (Kadipatta)
For garnishing
- 2-3 tbsp Freshly scrapped coconut (Optional)
- 2-3 tbsp Fresh coriander, finely chopped
- Red chilli powder to sprinkle
Method
Make sure to sift gram flour for the batter. We need a fine gram flour powder for making the dhokla.
Whisk the batter in one direction clockwise for 5 – 10 minutes. This step ensures the batter turns light and fluffy.
After whisking the batter allow it to rest for 5 – 6 minutes. We want gluten-strands of the gram flour to relax a bit and strengthen the structure of dhokla.
In a mixing bowl take the besan. Add the sugar, oil, ginger-chilli paste, lemon juice, turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
Add in the water slowly to form a pouring batter, without lumps.
Keep this batter aside for 10 minutes.
Grease the vessel in you want to steam it in with oil. (you canuse the vessel provided with the pressure cooker).
Steam in a pressure cooker without whistle.
Keep the cooker on flame with water in its bottom for steaming ready.
Add the eno fruit salt in the batter and mix well. It will become frothy.
Now from here you need to act fast. Pour the batter in the greased vessel/plate and keep it in the pressure cooker and close the lid without the whistle.
Steam it for 10-15 minutes maximum without putting on the whistle on a medium flame.
When done off the flame and remove the vessel out and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Invert it on a plate and cut into squares.
Make the tempering. Heat oil. When the oil is hot enough add the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.
Off the flame. Add the Asafetida and curry leaves and keep aside to cool.
Put the cooled tempering on the ready dhokla’s.
Garnish them with freshly scrapped coconut, chopped coriander and sprinkle red chilli powder and serve.
- A large steamer is used to cook the batter to perfection traditionally. You may also try the microwave method in which we will simply prepare the batter as suggested in the recipe above, pour the batter in a microwave safe bowl, place a cup of water in the microwave and steam dhokla for 5 minutes. There is no need to use any gas stove steamer.
- Fill the inner pot with 2 glasses of water to steam dhokla in an instant pot. Place a tall trivet in the inner pot. Arrange the pan with the batter on the trivet, You may use a small-size round cake tin that will fit easily inside the instant pot. Close the lid. Set the pressure valve to the venting position. Set the Steam mode for 10 minutes. The IP timer does not work in steaming mode, hence you will need to set an external timer.
- Open the lid after the set cooking time, and insert a toothpick to check dhokla for doneness. Before turning let dhokla sit in the pan for 10 minutes to cool down a bit.
- You may substitute 1 teaspoon of Eno fruit salt with a baking soda or cooking soda. Both of them act as a great instant fermenting agent to make a fluffy dhokla.
- 2 servings per container
- Serving Size200 g
- Amount per serving
- Calories136
- % Daily Value*
- Total Fat11 g14.1%
- Saturated Fat3 g15%
- Trans Fat0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat0 g
- Cholesterol0 mg0%
- Sodium213 mg9.26%
- Total Carbohydrate50 g18.18%
- Dietary Fiber2 g7.14%
- Total Sugars6 g
- Protein8 g16%
- Calcium12 mg0.92%
- Iron7 mg38.89%
- Vitamin A1 mcg0.11%