Skip to main content

Dhokla

Toooooasted cooooooconut.


For the first in a two-part series of my favorite southern Indian brunch foods, I present dhokla. It's sort of like a heavier version of cornbread, made with a mixture of chickpea and rice flours, with Indian spices and optional vegetables to make it savory and delicious. I can eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

It'll look fancier with the topping.

I make my Indian brunch foods from the mixes that they sell at Asian markets, because that's how I learned. However, it sounds pretty easy to do this totally from scratch if you are so inclined.

The magic is in the topping.

While the whole recipe is pretty flexible, I am going to insist that you top it with toasted coconut flakes and mustard seeds. Think of this as the ketchup to your burger. There is no compromise here.

The Recipe:
1 box khaman dhokla mix
1 tb plain yogurt, plus more for serving
Vegetables of your choice (I used 1 cup chopped spinach and 1 chopped tomato)
1/4 c red onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ginger root, grated
1 tsp tumeric
pinch ground coriander
pinch chili pepper or chili/garlic paste
pinch cumin
pinch salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
2 tb mustard seeds
Optional: Indian pickle for serving
  • Combine the dhokla mix with the amount of water directed on the box, minus about 1 tb
  • Add 1 tb yogurt and all other ingredients except coconut and mustard seeds
  • Mix well
  • Pour batter into glass 9x9 baking pan
  • Cover loosely with saran wrap
  • Microwave for 6-8 minutes, until batter is set (or steam on stove)
  • While cooking, put dry coconut flakes and mustard seeds in a pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until coconut flakes start to brown and seeds start to pop. If you have more patience than I do, do the coconut and seeds in separate pans so you can get each one to the perfect doneness.
  • Spread your topping over the cooked dhokla and serve with plain yogurt and Indian pickle.
The Verdict:
Overall grade: A
Overall reason: Tasty, versatile, and I feel great after eating it.
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
Husband quote: (More a note than a quote this time) Every time I make this, Jess looks a bit disappointed at the very simple, vegetarian meal before him, but upon taking his first bite he lights up and devours it. I have to double the recipe if I want leftovers.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.
2 comments
Read more

Curry Fried Rice

Excited for these leftovers. One of the things I wanted to try with my  new jar of curry powder  was fried rice. Years ago, Miles got fried rice at  Korea House  and it was the best fried rice I'd ever had. I suspected there was curry powder in it, but at that time I had never really cooked with curry powder, so I tucked that knowledge away for a later date. After reading a few recipes, I went rogue on this one. I couldn't even begin to effectively guess at what proportions I ended up with, so the recipe below is more of a rough guideline of ingredients. The "Recipe" (sorry no quantities; follow your heart): leftover jasmine rice tofu, cubed and crisped in the oven with avocado oil and salt vegetables: garlic, onion, cabbage, red bell pepper salt curry powder (I used a Vietnamese one) soy sauce sugar sesame oil future topping ideas: runny egg, sesame seeds, green onion Saute the vegetables in avocado oil until softened, and salt them to taste Add the tofu and toss to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samosa Burritos

Imagine a pile of plain yogurt and some Indian pickle for dipping I saw a Pinterest recipe for samosa-filled quesadillas, which led me to  this recipe  from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen for baked samosas using tortillas, which led me to just use the giant tortillas I had in the fridge and make them into full-sized burritos. They were a hit! I largely followed the recipe from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen, but I added some potato, omitted the chana masala powder and just added a bunch of cumin instead, added bell pepper and fresh chilies, didn't bother with the "sealing paste," and basted them in a little bit of melted butter (omit for vegan version). Everyone except the 5-year-old liked them! The Recipe (adapted from  Nadia's Healthy Kitchen ) 2 cans (30 oz total) cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed (I eyeballed the equivalent from dry beans) 1 small onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 thai chili, minced 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 potato, baked until soft (or microwaved for...
Post a Comment
Read more