🇩🇪 Deutsch 🇬🇧 English
Khaman Dhokla
Steamed chickpea cake, airy as a sponge
👨🍳 Pro🥟 Snack & Street Food🌿 Vegan🕑 45 min
A savory steamed cake from Gujarat: tangy, lightly sweet, topped with a tadka of mustard seeds and green chilies. The batter rises the instant baking soda meets acid — and from that moment you have barely a minute.
👨🍳 Pro: Fermenting, deep-frying or layering. Needs time, patience and a quiet afternoon.
Prep20 min
Cook time25 min
Total45 min
ServesOne tray, about 20 pieces
Contains:
MustardSesame
Refers to the recipe as written here. Store-bought ingredients may carry traces — please check the packet.
Ingredients
0 of 14✅ All set to cook!
Method
0 of 6🎉 All done — enjoy!
- Set up the steamer and bring the water to a rolling boil. Grease a pan. Both must be READY before you mix the batter.
- Whisk besan, water, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and the ginger-chili paste smooth — thick like pancake batter, no lumps. Let rest 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the Eno over the batter and stir it in for 20-30 seconds in ONE direction. The batter visibly foams up and turns pale.
- Pour it into the pan immediately and set it in the boiling steamer. Cover with the lid.
- Steam 18-20 minutes. A toothpick must come out clean. Let sit 10 minutes, then cut into diamonds.
- For the tadka, heat oil, let the mustard seeds pop, add the sesame seeds, chilies, and curry leaves, then take it off the heat and stir in the sugar water carefully — it will spatter. Pour over the dhokla and let it soak in. Top with cilantro.
Tips
- The point of no return is the Eno. It reacts instantly and only once; grease the pan or set up the steamer after adding it, and you steam a flat, dense cake with no way back.
- Stir in one direction, never beat it. Every extra motion knocks the gas bubbles back out.
- The sugared water in the tadka is not a mistake: it keeps the dhokla moist and is the reason it does not taste dry.
- Two tablespoons of semolina in the batter give a bit more bite. It is not in the recipe because dhokla without it is gluten-free — and that is worth more than the bite.
Shop the Ingredients
Everything for this recipe is available from us in Munich — in store or delivered.
