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White dhokra

Steamed rice and urad dal cake

Steamed rice and urad dal dhokla with black pepper

Soft, white steamed squares of ground rice and urad dal, spiced with black pepper and green chilli and topped with a mustard and sesame tempering. They're a classic Gujarati farsan. Serve with green and red chutneys. For yellow dhokra, use bengal gram lentils (chana dal) instead of black gram lentils, and add a pinch of turmeric and some garlic paste to the batter.
Total time
100 min
Difficulty
medium
Serves
10
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Ingredients

Serves10

For the batter

  • 10 ½ oz rice
  • 3 ½ oz husked black gram lentils (urad dal)
  • 2 tsp green chilli paste
  • 1 ¼ cups warm waterabout
  • 5 tbsp oil1 tbsp per cup of batter
  • 2 ½ tsp fruit salt (Eno)½ tsp per cup of batter
  • 2 tsp black peppercrushed
  • 2 tsp saltor to taste
  • 1 tsp sugaror to taste

For the tempering

For the topping

For garnishing

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What you'll need

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Method

0/11 done
  1. Step 1: Soak 10 ½ oz rice and 3 ½ oz husked black gram lentils (urad dal) separately for 8–10 hours. Drain.

  2. Step 2: Grind them coarsely with 1 ¼ cups warm water to make a batter of slightly pouring consistency.

  3. Step 3: Add 2 tsp green chilli paste, 2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and mix.

  4. Step 4: Bring water to the boil in a steamer and grease a 20 cm tray.

  5. Step 5: Pour one cup of the batter into a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of 5 tbsp oil and ½ teaspoon of 2 ½ tsp fruit salt (Eno) and whisk until it rises.

  6. Step 6: Spread the mixture in the greased tray. Lightly sprinkle with red chilli powder and ground black pepper.

  7. Step 7: Steam for 10–15 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the tray.

    12 min
  8. Step 8: Cool, then cut into squares or diamonds and arrange in a serving dish.

  9. Step 9: Make dhokra from the remaining batter in the same way.

    40 min
  10. Step 10: Heat 4 tbsp oil for the tempering, add 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tbsp sesame seeds and asafoetida and, once they crackle, pour over the dhokra.

    2 min
  11. Step 11: Garnish with 2 tbsp fresh coriander. Serve with green and red chutneys.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
220 kcal
Protein
5 g
Carbs
31 g
Fat
9 g
Fibre
1 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does white dhokra take?
About 100 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it vegan?
Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
Is it gluten free?
Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
What can I use instead of rice?
Any long-grain rice, same amount.
What can I use instead of husked black gram lentils (urad dal)?
Bengal gram lentils (chana dal), same amount.

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Perfect for:Tea-time