Dhokla-Handvo Flour

Here is an easy and quick way to make your own dhokla flour at home and use it to make delicious khatta dhokla, handvo, and muthiya. This flour stays fresh for up to 2 months at room temperature when stored in an airtight container in a cool and dry place!

Jump to:

• What is Dhokla?
• Dhokla-Handvo flour
• Khatta Dhokla
• Notes and pro-tips –
• Ferment the batter in Instant Pot –
• Steam the dhokla in Instant Pot –
• Some of my favorite Gujarati recipes from the blog 
• Dhokla-Handvo Flour (+Khatta Dhokla Recipe)
• Video

What is Dhokla?

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.

I have many memories of this dish.

We used to eat this khatta dhokla with Keri no ras (Mango pulp). Yes, you heard it right, with mango pulp. Believe me it’s THE best combo. 🙂

I still remember how we used to take aluminum Dabba filled with washed and sundried rice-lentil mixture to the neighborhood flour-mill for milling.

We had to leave the Dabba for a couple of days at flour milling station as the dhokla flour was milled on once or twice in a couple of days.

With Dhokla flour readily available in grocery stores we have forgotten the ratios of dals and rice.

So I thought let me blog this age-old recipe. That way we can pass this traditional recipe to our next generation. 🙂

Dhokla-Handvo flour

This flour is made using rice and different lentils. The traditional way of making this flour is to first wash and then sun-dry the lentils for a couple of days and then make flour out of it.

But due to time constraints and to make process a little easy, I simply dry roast them in a pan and then make flour using a grinder. If you wish you can wash and sun-dry the lentils for a couple of days.

The flour mix is really handy. Sure you can make this dhokla from idli-dosa batter, it cannot match the taste of traditional Khatta Dhokla made from the freshly grounded flour.

It requires no advance preparation and takes just minutes to make. Nothing can beat preparing fresh flour for this recipe and you do not even have to go to a flour mill to make it, as it can be ground at home easily using the mixer grinder.

We use this flour to make Handvo and Muthiya too.

So coming back to the ratios, they can be regional and individual!!

Note that each family has its own ratio of rice to lentils.

I am sharing here how my Mom and MIL taught me.

I follow a 3:1 ratio (Rice to lentil) and use a combination of lentils (Urad dal, chana dal, and toor dal) with rice but add whichever lentil is available in your pantry.

My Mom and MIL use kanki (broken rice) for this recipe. But I don’t get this rice here in Arizona so I always use sona masoori rice and it works fine. Basically you want small grain rice for this recipe.

So to make this flour, first, you need to dry roast the rice and lentils together in the pan for about 2 to 3 minutes and cool it completely.

Once cooled, using a chutney jar or dry grinder, grind it to semolina like texture.

The flour will be hot, let it cool before storing it in an airtight jar.

This flour stays fresh up to 2 to 3 months at room temperature. And the bonus part when we traveling out of homes this recipe is useful as we can carry the flours with us and make dhoklas in our temporary residences like motels or extended stays in hotels.

This recipe is a great lifesaver for the people who are constantly traveling and for students out of homes. All you need to carry is dhokla stand plates and a steamer which will help to steam the dhoklas.

Khatta Dhokla

In Gujarati and Hindi, sour means “Khatta”. and we can get this sour flavor by adding the sour yogurt.

It is called khatta dhokla because the flour is mixed with curd and fermented for 10 to 12 hours before steaming.

Adding curd and fermenting the batter gives a tempting sour flavor.

The texture is soft but a little bit dense within. It’s a little bit different from idli. It’s healthy, filling, and protein-rich. Perfect for kids lunch-box or any potluck parties.

On top of rice-lentil flour and curd, you will need oil, ginger chili paste, salt, sugar, baking soda, and chili powder.

How to make? Step by step process –

Take flour in a big mixing bowl. (Photo 1 )

Add curd and salt. Mix well and make a thick paste-like batter. (Photo 2 to 4)

Cover it and keep it at a warm place for about 10 to 12 hours for fermentation. 

Once the batter is fermented, add oil, ginger chili paste, sugar (to maintain the sourness), oil, and water. Mix everything well and make dosa like batter. (photo 5 to 8)

Now add water to the steamer, cover it and let the water boil. (Photo 10)

Meanwhile, grease the dhokla plate/tray with a good amount of oil. (Photo 9)

In a bowl take half of the batter, add a pinch of baking soda, and mix really well. (Photo 12)

Take this batter into a greased pan, sprinkle with chili powder, place the dhokla tray in a steamer, cover the lid and steam the dhokla for about 5 to 7 minutes. The steaming time is depended on the thickness of the dhokla and the size of the dhokla plate. (Photo 13)

After 5 to 7 minutes open the lid, insert the tooth-pick or knife to check its doneness. if toothpick inserted comes out clean, it’s done. If not, steam it for some more time.

Take the dhokla plate out, let it cool down for a minute. Now cut into square or diamond shape pieces.

It is ready!

I like to eat this dhokla with peanut oil and chili powder.

But if you want to temper it with tadka,

heat the oil in a pan.

Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, sesame seeds, and curry leaves.

Let everything crackles. (Photo 14)

Switch off the flame, pour tadka on prepared dhokla, sprinkle some cilantro, and enjoy it with green chutney and hot chai. 🙂

Notes and pro-tips –

• As I mentioned above, you can also make handvo and muthiya with this flour. I don’t want to make this post too long so I will share both the recipes later.
• You can use any lentils of your choice. Just make sure to maintain the proportion.
• Store the flour in airtight temperature at a cool and dry place.
• You may use any short-grain rice.
• Grind rice and lentil to semolina like texture.
• I have tried making this dhokla flour with readymade rice flour and lentil flour. I didn’t like the texture of the dhokla. So I wouldn’t recommend it.
• Use sour curd to get the tangy flavor.
• If you are familiar and would like to make yellow color ‘Live Dhokla’ served in Marriage menu Or sold at Funfair, add little bit turmeric powder in the batter and you will get Live dhokla.
• You can also add peanuts, grated bottle gourd (dudhi), or soaked chana dal in the batter.
• Don’t steam the dhokla for long. The dhokla will turn hard, chewy, and dense.
• Always steam dhokla on a medium to high flame.
• Adjust the sugar quantity according to the sourness of the batter.
• Add water little at a time.
• Make sure the batter consistency is dosa like consistency, not too thick or not too thin.
• Add the baking soda once you are ready to steam the dhoklas.
• The dhokla stays fresh up to 2 to 3 days at room temperature and hence this dish is perfect for travel.

Ferment the batter in Instant Pot –

• Take the batter in the inner pot of instant pot. Cover the pot with its locking lid and press the yogurt button and set it for 10 hours.
• Once the timer goes off and the display screen shows yogurt, take out the batter and follow the recipe. 

Steam the dhokla in Instant Pot –

• Place the trivet and turn on the Instant pot on Saute mode. Once the steam starts coming, place the dhokla plate on the trivet. Close the lid.
• Steam it for 10 minutes. Once the timer goes off, allow pressure to naturally release for about 5 mins.
• Manually release the remaining steam. Check if dhokla is well cooked by pricking it with a fork or knife.
• Remove the container carefully and allow it to cool. Cut it into squares or diamonds, temper it and serve it on a serving plate with green chutney. 

Some of my favorite Gujarati recipes from the blog 

Quinoa and lentil dhokla

Methi thepla

Khaman Dhokla

Methi na gota

Vegetable Gharvada

Farali Pattice

Vada

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Warm regards,

Dhwani.