Handvo Recipe

Moist, vegetable, and protein-packed, and easy to pull off, Handvo is simple to make and outright delicious.

It is a Gujarati savory cake with rice, lentils, and many veggies. It is spiced with fresh ginger, garlic, and green chilies, tempered with mustard seeds, sesame seeds, and curry leaves. This wholesome dish can be enjoyed as a meal, with masala chai or with a pickle or chutney.

You can make this snack on the stovetop in a pan, oven, and air fryer. Let’s learn how to make handvo at home the traditional way.

Jump to:

• What is handvo?
• What are the different ways to make this dish?
• Why you will love this recipe?
• Handvo Ingredients you’ll need
• Step-by-step process
• How to bake Handwo in Oven?
• Notes, Pro-Tips, and Quick FAQs
• More Gujarati Recipes
• Handvo recipe
• Video

What is handvo?

Gujarati handvo is a traditional savory snack made with rice, various lentils, vegetables, and spices. This delicious handvo cake is spiced with fresh ginger, garlic green chilies and tempered with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, hing, and curry leaves. It is naturally gluten-free.

Some people call this dish Ondhwo.

Though this is a staple in so many Gujarati households, every family has their version of making it. However, the basics to make it remain the same, and the ingredients are similar.

Traditionally special equipment called handvo cooker is used for making handvo, but it can be easily made in an oven, in an air-fryer, or even stove top in a pan.

While these methods differ, the result is always yummy. This savory cake contains delicious ingredients; handvo is a must-have if you like Gujarati food. It comes together quickly and is always a delight for everyone!

An all-time favorite, it’s one healthy Indian recipe that we devour — and make on repeat!

The main ingredient you shouldn’t think of skipping is grated bottle gourd – it imparts softness to the vegetable Handvo. However, grated zucchini also works excellent for handvo in place of bottle gourd.

You can make the batter for handvo from scratch by soaking lentils and rice overnight and then grinding the batter just like we make Idli-Dosa batter.

But the traditional way of making the batter is to grind lentils and rice into flour. Then mix with yogurt and let it ferment overnight.

Vegetables like bottle gourd and fenugreek leaves are mixed with spices and cooked over a low flame to get super crispy outer edges and soft interior.

You can also use store-bought Handwa flour instead of making it at home from scratch to save time.

Handvo is often enjoyed as a snack or appetizer with chai, but we love it for dinner, too, along with cilantro chutney and ketchup or pickle.

What are the different ways to make this dish?

There are so many different ways to make this dish. Each home will have its unique preparation method, and there are no right or wrong ways of doing things. The most common variations are Handvo with Handvo flour, Oven-baked Handvo, Tawa Handvo (in a frying pan), Handvo with Idli batter, Instant Handvo, and air-fried Handwo.

Today I am sharing two ways of making this dish, one on the stovetop in a pan and another in the oven, the baked version.

Why you will love this recipe?

• An excellent, wholesome, tasty, and healthy snack that will pick you up at any time.
• Loaded with vegetables and packed with protein
• Very easy to make and versatile
• Perfect for school or office lunch-box.
• It is served with green chutney and Masala chai. But it tastes so delicious as such too.

Handvo Ingredients you’ll need

Below is the ingredients list and possible substitutions. The exact ingredient amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Handvo Flour – I use homemade handvo flour. You can use store-bought ones too. It is readily available in Indian stores or on Amazon. To make homemade flour, I have used rice, chana dal, urad dal and toor dal.
• Yogurt/curd – Use thick and a little bit of sour curd/yogurt; it will give handvo a soft texture and tangy taste.
• Bottle gourd – Also known as dudhi or lauki. The only veggie I would not recommend skipping is bottle gourd/dudhi, which makes handvo soft. As a substitute for bottle gourd/dudhi, you can use zucchini.
• Other Vegetables – other than lauki, I have also added corn and carrots. You can add any other vegetables you like. Adding more vegetables is entirely optional.
• Tempering – You’ll need oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and asafoetida (hing).
• Baking Soda – I add baking soda right before baking the handvo. As a substitute, you can add Eno fruit salt too.
• Coarsely crushed peanuts – I love adding semi-crushed peanuts in the batter as it adds a beautiful crunch to the handvo. You can skip it if you are not a fan of peanuts or are allergic.
• Sesame seeds – Add a generous amount of sesame seeds on the top, as they add lots of flavors and make the handvo so pretty!
• Spices – Turmeric, red chili powder, and salt.
• Aromatics – The aromatics in the recipe include garlic, ginger, and green chili.
• Sweetener – I have used sugar to balance the sour flavors. You can use jaggery instead of sugar.

Step-by-step process

Step – 1 Make Handvo flour

• Take all the lentils and rice in a clean kitchen towel. Rub them thoroughly with the help of a kitchen towel to remove the impurities and dirt.
• Now take cleaned lentils and rice in a grinder jar and grind it to a semolina-like texture. Your dhokla flour is ready.
• Note – Skip the above steps if you are using store-bought dhokla flour.

Step – 2 Make the batter

• Then take the dhokla flour into a big mixing bowl.
• Add curd, water, salt, and fenugreek seeds. Mix well and make a thick cake-like batter.
• Cover it and keep it in at warm place for about 10 to 12 hours for fermentation.

• Once the batter is fermented, add bottle gourd, carrots, corn, ginger, garlic, green chilies, sugar, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, crushed peanuts, and baking soda.

Step – 3 Make tempering

• Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and hing. Let everything crackle.
• Switch off the flame. Pour this tempering over the Handwa batter mixture and mix everything very well.

Step – 4 Make handvo

• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small pan (I use a small 8-inch cast iron pan). Add sesame seeds and let them splutter. Reduce the flame to low heat.
• Add ½ cup of handwo batter to the pan, and spread well.
• Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low flame until the bottom is golden and crispy. This will take around 7 to 8 minutes.
• Open the lid and carefully flip the handwo. Cover the pan again and let the handvo cook for another 5 minutes or until golden and crisp on a low flame.
• Repeat the same process until you are done with the batter.

• Serve hot with Masala chai, green chutney, and ketchup. Enjoy.

How to bake Handwo in Oven?

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• To bake it in a cake tin: Grease a 9-inch cake pan with oil, take the prepared handwo batter in the pan, sprinkle sesame seeds, place the pan in the preheated oven, and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Then broil for 5 minutes to get a crispy browned top. Keep an eye on it while in a broiling mode. Take it out from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. Then cut, demould it, cut it into desired pieces, and enjoy with hot tea.
• To bake in a Cupcake mould (This will make 24 small cupcake size handwo) – Grease the cupcake pan with oil, add ¼ cup of handvo batter in each cupcake cavity, sprinkle sesame seeds on each of them, place it in preheated oven and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Then broil for 3 minutes to get a crispy browned top. Keep an eye on it while in a broiling mode. Take it out from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Take them out from the pan and enjoy!

Notes, Pro-Tips, and Quick FAQs

• Use either grated or finely chopped vegetables to combine with the batter.
• Always cook the handvo on a low flame throughout the cooking process to get that crispy exterior.
• Make sure to add bottle gourd/dudhi as it makes handvo soft. If bottle gourd/dudhi is unavailable, you can use zucchini with the same amount of water content.
• Only add little water while making the batter.
• Make sure to add baking soda or ENO just before making the handvo. This helps to make it rise well and have a fluffy texture.
• Use a cast iron or nonstick skillet to get a nice golden crust.
• The batter should be thick, like a cake batter, and not runny.
• Once you add fruit salt or baking soda, cook handvo immediately. Do not store the batter after adding fruit salt.
• Handvo makes a great lunch box recipe too. It can be enjoyed at room temperature, making an excellent packable recipe.

More Gujarati Recipes

• Dal dhokli
• Khaman Dhokla
• Dal Vada
• Patra recipe
• Undhiyu

Warm Regards,

Dhwani.