Dhokla Flour

You will get “dhokla” in most of the gujju homes and in Gujarati market too. Dhokla is a savoury steam cake made from gram flour and sometimes made from lentils. Feather-light and fluffy dhoklas are a Gujarati marvel we can never get enough of. Made with a fermented batter of gram flour (besan) and mild spices, dhoklas are great any time of the day Somehow when it comes to evening snacks, most of us are bound to think of something decadent and greasy. Be it samosa, pakodas, chips, bondas; our tea time companions are usually a little high on the calorie side, wouldn't you agree? But to generalise so, would be a blunder. For there is one popular snack from the western part of the country, that we all love to relish and yet it happens to have escaped the reputation of being unhealthy, cholesterol raising or calorie-laden. We are talking about the much loved dhokla.


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Dhokla is a vegetarian dish that is found mainly in Gujarat, a state of India. It is made with a fermented batter made from rice and lentils. It can be eaten for breakfast, as the main course, as a side dish, or as a snack and is very similar to Khaman. However, Dhokla is made of batter made from rice gram and is white in color which is called khatta dhokla, whereas Khaman is typically made from Chickpeas gram and looks yellow in color. Khaman has become very popular all over India and widely known as Dhokla.

In Gujarat, there are different varieties of dhokla.

·  Rawa dhokla
·  Khaman dhokla
·  Bajri na dhokla
·  Makai na dhokla
· Khaata dhokla

      Out of all dhokla, this khatta dhokla is my favorite. It is also called white dhokla or Idadaa. Dhokla, Khaman, Idli, Dosa, Handvo, Kapuriya, Uttapam are always on my menu planner as a favorite morning breakfast, light lunch, school lunch box or after school snack. But going through the process of soaking rice, dal and then fermenting it sounds like too much work to me. No doubt that is the most authentic way of preparing yummy delights, but this shortcut is equally tasty and gives awesome results. I always have homemade instant mixes ready in my pantry and whenever in mood to have any of those delights; I just whisk up the batter and enjoy yummy treats. For the best result, I prefer to soak ground mixes for about at least 3-4 hours but you can make instant using ENO Fruit salt as well. I usually soak overnight if I plan ahead, mostly when I know that my next morning is super busy!! Even when I prepare instant, I soak my mixes at least 15 minutes, then add ENO Fruit salt right before steaming, baking.