Celebrate India's Republic Day or Independence Day with this Tricoloured Dhokla.
A dhokla is a snack from the Gujarat state of India. It is a light and spongy savoury cake made with fermented and steamed batter of either chickpea flour, rice or lentils. Yoghurt added to the batter gives a mild tangy taste. A nutritious and delicious snack.
The tricoloured dhokla is made with a mixture of buttermilk and semolina or rava. A coarse paste of green chillies and ginger is added for flavour. Purees of cooked carrots and peas impart the saffron and green colours respectively. Coconut chutney and ketchup sandwiched in between hold the layers together. Garnished with a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies along with a sprinkle of grated coconut and coriander leaves.
This tricoloured dhokla certainly reminds me of my roots and the great country where I was born. Love India with its diverse cultures, religions and various cuisines. Jai Hind!!!
A dhokla is a snack from the Gujarat state of India. It is a light and spongy savoury cake made with fermented and steamed batter of either chickpea flour, rice or lentils. Yoghurt added to the batter gives a mild tangy taste. A nutritious and delicious snack.
The tricoloured dhokla is made with a mixture of buttermilk and semolina or rava. A coarse paste of green chillies and ginger is added for flavour. Purees of cooked carrots and peas impart the saffron and green colours respectively. Coconut chutney and ketchup sandwiched in between hold the layers together. Garnished with a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies along with a sprinkle of grated coconut and coriander leaves.
This tricoloured dhokla certainly reminds me of my roots and the great country where I was born. Love India with its diverse cultures, religions and various cuisines. Jai Hind!!!
Tricoloured Dhokla
(Serves 8 or 10)
Batter
Ingredients:
3 cups semolina or rava
3 green chillies
1" piece ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups buttermilk
To make buttermilk
Mix 3 cups of cold milk and juice of one lemon. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes till you see milk starts to curdle.
Method:
Make a coarse paste of green chillies and ginger in a mortar pestle.
In a bowl, add buttermilk and sprinkle semolina. Mix well along with the above coarse ground paste, sugar and salt. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Saffron layer
Ingredients:
2 large carrots
1/4 teaspoon orange food colour powder
Method:
Peel and chop carrots into pieces. Boil with little water till soft. Puree and strain through a sieve. Three-fourth cup of puree is required for the saffron layer.
Green layer
Ingredients:
1 cup green peas
Method:
Boil green peas with little water, puree and strain through a sieve. Three-fourth cup of pea puree is required for the green layer.
Preparing the batter
Method:
Divide the 4.5 cups batter into three bowls.
2 cups of batter in the first bowl for the white layer.
1 1/4 cups of batter in the second bowl. Add 3/4 cup of carrot puree along with 1/4 teaspoon of orange food colour. Mix well to achieve the deep saffron colour.
1 1/4 cups of batter in the third bowl. Add 3/4 cup of green peas puree. Stir well.
To have all three layers of uniform size, each bowl should have 2 cups of mixture.
Steaming
Heat water in a deep wide pot or steamer. If using a pot, place a round ring or cutter at the bottom. Ensure that the water level is with the round ring or cutter so that the cake pan or dhokla thali rest on it instead of floating (picture below).
Grease a 9.5" cake pan or dhokla thali with oil. When water in the steamer starts to boil, add 1 teaspoon of Eno fruit salt (i.e. 1 sachet) with 1 tablespoon of water to the white batter. Mix gently ensuring not to deflate the air bubbles and pour batter into prepared cake pan or thali. Cover the cake pan or thali with a lid or aluminium foil. Place in the steamer, cover and steam for 15 minutes.
Follow the above steaming process for the saffron and green layers. Use same size cake pan or thali for all layers to maintain uniformity.
Note:
Once all the three layers have been steamed, cool them completely for 30 minutes before removing from cake pan or thali. To unmould, run a knife along the edge of the cake pan.
You will need green coconut chutney and ketchup to apply between layers.
Assembling
Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut green chutney
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
Method:
In a dish, first place the green layer. Spread coconut chutney (recipe below) on top of this layer. Then place the white layer on top of the chutney. Spread ketchup on top of the white layer. Finally place the saffron layer.
Green coconut chutney
Grind to a fine paste
Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup coriander leaves with stems
2 green chillies
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt
Method:
Add a dash of lime juice to the ground paste. Mix well. Balance chutney can be served with pieces of dhokla.
Tempering
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 green chillies (slit)
2 sprigs of curry leaves
2 tablespoons grated coconut
few coriander leaves (chopped)
3 tablespoons oil
Method:
Heat oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds, slit green chillies and curry leaves. Pour over dhokla, garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut.
(Serves 8 or 10)
Batter
Ingredients:
3 cups semolina or rava
3 green chillies
1" piece ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups buttermilk
To make buttermilk
Mix 3 cups of cold milk and juice of one lemon. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes till you see milk starts to curdle.
Method:
Make a coarse paste of green chillies and ginger in a mortar pestle.
In a bowl, add buttermilk and sprinkle semolina. Mix well along with the above coarse ground paste, sugar and salt. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Saffron layer
Ingredients:
2 large carrots
1/4 teaspoon orange food colour powder
Method:
Peel and chop carrots into pieces. Boil with little water till soft. Puree and strain through a sieve. Three-fourth cup of puree is required for the saffron layer.
Green layer
Ingredients:
1 cup green peas
Method:
Boil green peas with little water, puree and strain through a sieve. Three-fourth cup of pea puree is required for the green layer.
Preparing the batter
Method:
Divide the 4.5 cups batter into three bowls.
2 cups of batter in the first bowl for the white layer.
1 1/4 cups of batter in the second bowl. Add 3/4 cup of carrot puree along with 1/4 teaspoon of orange food colour. Mix well to achieve the deep saffron colour.
1 1/4 cups of batter in the third bowl. Add 3/4 cup of green peas puree. Stir well.
To have all three layers of uniform size, each bowl should have 2 cups of mixture.
Steaming
Heat water in a deep wide pot or steamer. If using a pot, place a round ring or cutter at the bottom. Ensure that the water level is with the round ring or cutter so that the cake pan or dhokla thali rest on it instead of floating (picture below).
Grease a 9.5" cake pan or dhokla thali with oil. When water in the steamer starts to boil, add 1 teaspoon of Eno fruit salt (i.e. 1 sachet) with 1 tablespoon of water to the white batter. Mix gently ensuring not to deflate the air bubbles and pour batter into prepared cake pan or thali. Cover the cake pan or thali with a lid or aluminium foil. Place in the steamer, cover and steam for 15 minutes.
Follow the above steaming process for the saffron and green layers. Use same size cake pan or thali for all layers to maintain uniformity.
Note:
- Three teaspoons or 3 sachets of Eno fruit salt required for all three layers. One teaspoon each for a single layer. Mix Eno fruit salt into the batter just before steaming. Then pour into the greased cake pan or thali.
Once all the three layers have been steamed, cool them completely for 30 minutes before removing from cake pan or thali. To unmould, run a knife along the edge of the cake pan.
You will need green coconut chutney and ketchup to apply between layers.
Assembling
Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut green chutney
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
Method:
In a dish, first place the green layer. Spread coconut chutney (recipe below) on top of this layer. Then place the white layer on top of the chutney. Spread ketchup on top of the white layer. Finally place the saffron layer.
Green coconut chutney
Grind to a fine paste
Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup coriander leaves with stems
2 green chillies
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt
Method:
Add a dash of lime juice to the ground paste. Mix well. Balance chutney can be served with pieces of dhokla.
Tempering
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 green chillies (slit)
2 sprigs of curry leaves
2 tablespoons grated coconut
few coriander leaves (chopped)
3 tablespoons oil
Method:
Heat oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds, slit green chillies and curry leaves. Pour over dhokla, garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut.
