Khaman Dhokla ( Instant )

Khaman Dhokla comes from the land of Gujrat, however eaten in the entire country.
Traditionally, it is made of chana dal, but this recipe is the instant version which does not require any soaking, grinding and fermenting like in the traditional way. This is made of besan ( bengal gram flour ).
I always wondered how mom made these, so out of curiosity , I, one day, decided to stand next to my mom in the kitchen while she was making these, and was pleasantly surprised to see how easy and quick they are to make.
I never tried the traditional way of making dhokla, I prefer instant. Call me lazy ;)

Ingredients:

• Besan ( Bengal Gram Flour ) - 1 cup
• Sooji ( Semolina ) - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Ginger-Green Chili paste - 1 tsp
• Citric Acid - 1/2 tsp
• ENO Fruit Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Slit Green Chillies - to taste
• Hing ( Asafoetida ) - a pinch
• Chopped Cilantro - for garnishing
• Water -1 cup + 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 2 tsp

Directions:

• In a mixing bowl , mix besan, sooji, ginger-green chili paste, citric acid, turmeric powder and salt. Add 1 cup of water and make it into a smooth batter with no lumps.
• If you do not have citric acid , it can be replaced with 1 tsp of lemon juice.
• Heat the steamer and keep it ready while you prepare the mixture. If you do not have a steamer, you can as well use a pressure cooker, but with no weight.
• Grease the dhokla plate with cooking spray and keep aside.
• Add ENO fruit salt to the batter and give it a good mix. It will instantly raise the batter to double the quantity.
• Immediately pour this batter onto the dhokla plate and place it in the steamer or cooker.
• Cover and cook for 7-10 minutes. Then turn off the heat. Insert a toothpick into the dhokla, it should come out clean if it is cooked.
• It should now look like a spongy cake.
• Take the remaining half cup of water and mix sugar in it. Pour this water all over the cake evenly with the help of spoon. This will make the dhoklas juicy and a little sweet. You can adjust the amount of sugar depending on how sweet you like it. 

Tadka :

• Dhoklas now need some tempering. Heat oil in a small pan , add mustard seeds. Let them splutter.
• Add hing and slit green chillies. Saute for just a few seconds.
• Pour it all over the dhokla evenly.
• Cut the dhokla into equal pieces and garnish them with chopped cilantro.
• You can also garnish with grated coconut , if you like. 

Serve it hot or cold with green chutney. It can also be eaten without any chutney, just like that. Just bite into it and it will melt in mouth. Yummmmm !!!!