Khaman Dhokla Recipe

Khaman dhokla is a steamed snack made with gram flour & spices. This detailed post will help you make perfectly soft, fluffy, spongy and delicious khaman dhokla. Traditionally, Khaman and Dhokla are 2 different dishes from Gujarati cuisine. Khaman is a dish made with bengal gram or gram flour. While Dhokla is made using fermented rice and lentil batter.

Both are steam cooked & tempered. Due to the inclusion of rice, dhokla looks pale & lighter in color. But khaman is well-known as khaman dhokla across other regions & is popular on the restaurant menus. It is pretty much served in eateries, cafes & street stalls as a snack.

So what is dhokla? Dhokla is a steamed savory cake, topped with a tempering made of spices and curry leaves. It is garnished with coconut, sesame seeds and coriander leaves.

Making the dish consists of 3 parts – preparing the batter, steaming the batter and lastly tempering the steamed dish (khaman). This recipe is fairly easy and can also be made by beginners.

A well-made khaman dhokla is soft & spongy without being dry or crumbly. It should be delicious and ideally not have an aftertaste of the leavening agent.

Serve this as a breakfast or snack with a green chutney or red garlic chutney. But it tastes good on its own too.

Step-by-step photos

Preparation

1. To a mixing bowl or a jug, pour water. Add ginger paste, green chilli paste, salt, sugar, oil and lemon juice. In restaurants, citric acid is used in place of lemon juice. If using citric acid, look for natural pure citric acid. Refer my notes below.

2. Add all the ingredients to the water and stir well until the sugar dissolves. Keep this aside.

3. Place a sieve over a large mixing bowl. Add besan and turmeric to it.

4. Sieve them and then add fine semolina (suji). Mix everything well.

Make batter

5. Pour the spiced water we made at step 2 and mix well to a lump-free batter. At the end of this step you will have a thick batter.

6. Add more water as needed to make a free flowing yet slightly thick batter. The quantity of water to use depends on the texture of flour. You may need a little more or less than what I have used. You will need about 4 to 5 tbsps water at this stage.

7. Beat the batter very well in one direction (clock-wise or anti-clock wise) with your whisk for exactly 50 to 60 seconds.

8. Dip a spoon and check the consistency. It should not be too runny or too thick. But has to coat the back of the spoon well and should not be very thick.

9. This is the consistency of the batter. It should not be of a ribbon consistency. Keep this aside and prepare the steamer.

10. Pour 2½ to 3½ cups water to a large pot or a steamer. Place a steel rack or a ring or a long legged trivet. Cover and bring the water to a rolling boil. Ensure there is enough water in your steamer so it can steam constantly for 20 mins. (I pour about 4 cups as I use a large pot)

Steaming dhokla

11. Meanwhile add half to 1 teaspoon oil and grease a 5 inch box or a cake pan. I used a steel box. Grease the sides as well. If you do not have a pan, you can also use your masala dabba cups.

12. When you see the water in the steamer is about to come to a boil, then add eno (fruit salt) and pour 1 tablespoon water to the dhokla batter. You will see the eno activates and froths up.

13. Quickly mix everything well to incorporate it with the batter. As you mix, the khaman dhokla batter begins to thicken and turns light. Run the whisk around the bowl including the sides to mix it evenly. If you don’t mix the batter evenly all over, dhokla will be dense in some parts.

14. Immediately pour this to the box or pan. It is very common to see uneven surface on top. Optionally using your whisk slightly smoothen the top quickly.

15. Note after adding eno, the batter has to go straight into the steamer that’s ready with boiling water. Place it in the steamer and cover it. Your lid should have a vent for the steam to escape otherwise some amount of moisture may come on top of the dhokla. You can also use your pressure cooker lid without the whistle.

16. Steam it for 20 mins on a moderately high flame. It has to be steamed constantly for 20 mins. After 5 mins or so I reduce the heat a bit as the water comes out from the sides. This again depends on your stove and steamer. Once done, a knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Turn off the stove and leave it covered in the pot for another 5 mins.

Tempering dhokla

17. Pour oil to a tadka pan and heat it. Add mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add curry leaves and sliced green chilies. Saute for a while until the curry leaves turn crisp.

18. You can add sesame seeds at this stage if you like. But I do not add them here as we prefer to sprinkle the toasted sesame while serving. Turn the flame low and add the sesame seeds. Saute until they crackle. Lastly add hing, sugar and salt. Mix the hing with oil.

19. Next pour water. Bring it to a rolling boil and turn off. Stir a few times to dissolve the sugar. Cover this and leave it to cool down a bit.

20. Remove the dhokla pan from the steamer and cool it completely. After it cools down, using a knife loosen the sides if needed. If your tin has even sides, then the dhokla will loosen on it’s own. Since mine has a design/dent on the sides, I had to run a knife.

21. Keep a plate over the pan and invert the dhokla to the plate. Ensure the dhokla has cooled completely before removing it. Cut to squares. Since I doubled the recipe (2x) I got so many pieces.

21. I prefer to pour the warm tempering on the dhokla. Spread the spices all over. First pour half cup of the tempering water and wait for a while. Then pour the rest. All of the water will be absorbed by the dhokla.

Cool completely. Garnish just before serving.

Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds along with fresh coconut & fine chopped coriander leaves. Serve dhokla with green chutney or red garlic chutney.

Store & reheat

To refrigerate, keep the cooled dhokla (without coconut) in a air tight box and use up within 2 days. To reheat, steam again in a steamer or a cooker until very hot. Or Place the bowl uncovered in the Instant pot and pressure cook for 0 mins. Steaming dhokla after refrigerating will make it super soft and spongy.

If you feel it has become dry, you may make a fresh tempering with little water and pour just before serving.

More Snacks Recipes
Ragda patties
Potato wedges
Aloo bhujia

Tips to make khaman dhokla

Consistency of batter is the key to make a spongy dhokla. If there is not enough water in the batter, dhokla will turn out dense and crumbly. Ideally it should not be too thick and not too thin/ runny. It has to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and thin enough that it doesn’t have a ribbon consistency.

So you can add as much or less water as needed until you get this right consistency. Use a tablespoon to pour additional water so you don’t add a lot.

Amount of water to add depends on the texture of the besan. I have always made this with fine besan and the amount of water mentioned in the recipe card works well for me. Depending on the texture you may need more or less.

Steaming: Batter has to be steamed for a good 20 mins. Ensure there is enough water in your steamer/ pot to steam constantly for 20 mins. If the water in your pot gets over, then pour hot water from the sides to your pot.

Pouring cold water will cool down your steamer instantly and will stop steaming your dhokla halfway. In this case, leavening agent won’t work as efficiently as it should & makes the dhokla partially dense.

Citric acid vs lemon juice

I have tried the recipe with both these. Citric acid makes the dhokla airy and light. Lemon juice also yields good results but not as airy and light.

If you want to use citric acid, look for pure and natural citric acid.

Eno (fruit salt) vs Baking soda

Eno is a fruit salt which is a combination of citric acid, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and additives. It is the same as using citric acid and sodium bicarbonate minus the additives.

Restaurants use baking soda in combination with citric acid to avoid an aftertaste. Eno with citric acid / lemon juice works the best for me. So I have shared the same here.

Faqs

Why is my dhokla not spongy? Here are some of the reasons for dhokla not being spongy – batter is not of the right consistency, keeping the batter for long time without steaming after adding eno or interrupting the steaming process midway.

Why is my dhokla bitter? Too much of leavening agent can make the dhokla bitter. To avoid the bitter taste, use it only in the recommended quantities along with a acidic ingredient.

Which is the best leavening agent to use in dhokla? Eno with citric acid gives the best results. However Eno with lemon/ lime juice also works well but there is a slight difference in the rise and airy texture.

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