I was first introduced to this simple yet delicious Gujarati recipe when I was in High school at my friend’s home who was a TamBram. Her mother having spent her early years after her marriage in Gujarat learned this recipe and used to serve us all friends in the evenings whenever we all go to her home for group studies. When I saw this recipe in Nupur’s space who is my partner for this month’s Blog Hop, I was skeptical of using Peas and knew that I had to come up with my own variation to entice my kids.
Nupur’s space is full of lots of valuable info concerning Food in general and you will find her tips section very useful. I had a great time raiding her virtual kitchen and loved her palak paneer very much. But I chose this recipe to find out if my kids are comfortable with Dhoklas, because when I made them over a year ago they did not seem so enthusiastic, so I had to stop from making them again.
But I wanted to introduce them once again as it is non-oily and will make a very healthy breakfast or snack option for them. So I used tomatoes in making the Dhoklas to make them more colorful and attractive for them. I knew they would love the tangy taste of tomatoes and I was not disappointed over my judgement. They both loved it very much. You will note while going through the recipe that I have not added any artificial food color in them.
Dhoklas / Tomato Dhoklas
(Print this Recipe)
You’ll need:
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- Besan / Gram flour / Kadalai Maavu – 1 cup
- Yogurt / Curd – 1/2 cup
- Tomato – 1
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Vinegar – 1/4 tsp
- Red chilli Powder – 1 tsp
- Ginger paste – 1/2 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp
- Fruit Salt – 1 tsp
- Salt – to taste
- Oil – for greasing
For Tempering:
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Asafetida – 2 pinch
- White Sesame seeds – 1 tsp
- Water – 1 tbsp
- Oil – 2 tsp
- Coriander leaves – for garnish
Method:
Heat 1/2 cup of water in a vessel. Place the tomato in water and close with a lid. Let it rest for 5 min. Remove the skin and puree it in a mixer along with the water. Add the ginger paste and pulse the mixer once more. Pass it thru a sieve and keep aside the tomato puree.
Grease a plate with oil and keep aside. In another vessel mix together besan, red chilli powder, sugar and salt. Now add curds, tomato and ginger puree and vinegar and mix well. Finally sprinkle the fruit salt on top of the batter. Mix well with your hands and transfer the batter immediately to the greased pan.
Steam for 10 – 15 min or till a skewer comes out clean. I placed a metal ring inside the idli cooker and placed the plate on it. You can also steam in a pressure cooker without using the weight on the vent.
Remove the plate and let it cool for 10 min. Invert the plate over another plate and gently tap and the springy, spongy dhoklas will come off the plate easily.
Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil. Temper with mustard seeds. Once it pops add the sesame seeds and asafetida and take off stove. Once it cools down add 1 tbsp of water and pour the tempering all over the steamed dhoklas.
Cut into desired shapes and serve garnished with coriander leaves. I served them with Tomato Chutney. You can also relish them with Green chutney.
To get Spongy Dhoklas: Add the fruit salt only in the end, just before transferring the batter to the steaming plate and use your hands while mixing. The body heat plays a crucial role. Do not over mix after adding the fruit salt as this will make the dhoklas hard.
Notes:
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You can replace vinegar with 1 tsp of lime juice.
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You can also use grated coconut while garnishing.
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Make sure that the curd is not too sour.
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Check and taste the batter and adjust salt before steaming the batter.
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Make sure that the fruit salt is fresh. Using old ones past their expiry will prevent the dhoklas from turning out springy and also you will end up with dense and cakey ones.
This is off to Blog Hop Wednesdays and enjoy going thru the delicacies prepared the Blog Hoppers. Also if you wanna go hopping do submit your blog here.
This is also off to Jyothi's Healthy & Hearty and to Vardhini’s New U.
Nice presentation.....recipe is soo temptinggg
Wow...Dhokla looks very colorful n inviting,very innovative,can't wait to try it out 🙂
Beautiful clicks Radhika !!
Wow! Radhi, what a colorful presentation..very very beautiful..love your tomato dhokla..thanks for the recipe.I've announced a baby food event, please go thru' the event details and send me some entries
http://www.nithubala.com/2012/01/event-announcement-healthy-food-for.html
Dhokla looks soft and spongy with lovely color...yum..
Woww... interesting twist.. looks absolutely delicious.. thanks for sharing !!
Indian Cuisine
awesome.. my dhoklas dont turn out good. smthing always goes wrong though my bhabi makes them delicious. but tomato version is totally new.
i just love dhokla and this twist you added with tomato sounds amazing!
Tomato dhokla looks very colorful, perfect and yummy. Beautiful presentation.
This is a lovely recipe Radhika, what a wonderful colour of the dhoklas..I am sure my kiddo would love to eat this colourful dhokla.
beautiful and perfectly made dhokla !! very tempting !!
Ongoing Event - CC-Chocolate Fest
Healthy n Colorful Snack!!!!
tangy twist to the dhokla- good one
Dhoklas are a fav, but first time i have seen a variation with tomato..have to give this a try.
wow these look v inviting....u cud even try corn dhoklas...they too come out real delicious!
Awesome dish. This is so tempting and colourful
loved the colour Radhika and the twist to the usual Dhokla .. must try soon
Super tempting catchy and terrific spongy dhoklas..inviting.
hey..i know the regular dhokla.but this one very new 2 me...sounds good........lovely colour of dhokla
Colorful and yummy dhoklas. Looks so spongy
I truly could not believe for a while that there's no added color in it...but yeah, tomatoes do have a nice deepening effect and wow, they have made the recipe so colorful and healthier....this is in my hit list of cooking now. 🙂
Need not repeat about your neat photographic skills here...ur clicks are always eye catching.
Beautiful presentation.
looks so colourful.. yum... i will try sometime 🙂
Nice site of Recipes, definitively would like to refer .
giftwithlove.com
That's a lovely colour on the Dhoklas! Very unique flavour combination too...
Yum yum,mouthwatering here, wat a super tempting dish..
so beautiful!!
I love tomato flavor - Whether it is in potato chips,noodles,chutney,or anything else!The Dhokla looks great,and I need to try it,since it is flavored with tomatoes too!Also found the idea of tempering it with white sesame seeds intriguing.
Going to bookmark/note this recipe down.Thank you so much for sharing!:-)
very innovative recipe. such a beautiful hue...bookmarked.
Dhoklas look so colourful and inviting...
dhokla looks so colourful and yummy..
I liked the idea of blog hop Wednesday and would like to join sometime,now I am not sure whether I can do blog hopping regularly.Do we have to do this every week or once in a month...if it is monthly I would like join too..
I have never made dhokla before. .love the taste though.. Now I want to make this 🙂
They look wonderful, and the color is just fantastic!
lovely colors , must try
Colorful and delicious dhokla...bookmarked
Nice presentation.I can't wait to try it out.
Dhoklas look yummy Radhika. I made dhoklas for the first last month and loved it. Thx for linking to the event.
Colourful and delicious a nice twist given by adding tomatoes, Awesome colour.pretty clicks too.
i like the idea of tomatoes in dhokla.. your dhoklas look so pretty and spongy!
Healthy, Colorful & innovative recipe.. Yumm
The dokhlas and the presentation are amazing - two thumbs up Radhika 🙂
colorful twist to the regular dhokla!! Very eye catching and I am sure the kids would love to finish off their share!!
They look awesome, making me hungry now!
very tempting,soft and spongy dhoklas... so colourful and nicely presented..never tried adding tomato and vinegar..will try for sure..loved the clicks so very much..
Dhokla looks aweosme and inviting. Nice presentation..
Looks superb Radhika! Colourful Dhoklas! Hope you had a great start in the year 2012! 🙂
Love the color of your Dhoklas...Love the addition of tomatoes.
I am sure this taste as good as it looks.
Loved the color! I've never tasted Dhokla! simply coz apart from Idli, I don't like anything steamed.. II'll probably taste and then make it.. This one looks so appealing!
Lovely colour! Treat to the eyes!
Thanks Radhika for your support.
tomato dhokla is such a great idea! love that hint of red & they look super spongy 🙂
You have given a new colour to Dhoklas. Love the version
Thanks for trying them of from my Blog.
Cheers !
so pretty!!
this is a good and easy recipe. i'll try it 2morrow!!!
Radhika, i tried and blogged about this. This came ut perfect. Thank you
yummy dhokla....
http://rasoishow-etv-gujarati.blogspot.in/
dhokla looks great . i want to do this in my kitchen but suggest me instead of vinegar what i can use. kindly help. perfect lunch box flavour ....so plz suggest.
dhokla looks great . i want to do this in my kitchen but suggest me instead of vinegar what i can use. kindly help. perfect lunch box flavour ....so plz suggest.