Khaman is the most popular
Gujarati snack. This moist and delicious savory cake is a must for a Gujarati
feast but don’t get it confused with Dhokla. Generally people call it Khaman
Dhokala, but they are completely two different preparations. And yes pre-planning
is needed for this traditional and tasty khaman.
Sev khamani is also a popular
snack and most probably invented from the Khaman itself. Another tasty recipe,
with ginger-garlic flavor and served with chutney.
For Khaman you need -
Ingredients:
1. Chana Daal – 1 cup
2. Urad Daal – 1 Tb-spoon
3. Yogurt – 1/3rd cup
4. Water – 1/4th cup
5. Chickpea Flour (Besan) – 1
Tb-spoon
6. Salt – 2 t-spoon
7. Turmeric Powder – 1/8 t-spoon
8. Asafoetida – 1/8 t-spoon
9. Green Chili Paste – to taste
10. Minced Ginger – 2 t-spoon
11. Oil – 2 Tb-spoon
12. Lemon/Lime Juice – 1 Tb-spoon
13. Fruit salt/Eno – 1 t-spoon
Seasoning:
1. Oil – 2 Tb-spoon
2. Mustard Seeds – 1 t-spoon
3. Asafetida – 1/8 t-spoon
4. Green Chilies – to taste, slit
5. Water – 6 Tb-spoon
6. Sugar – 1 Tb-spoon
7. Lemon/Lime Juice – 1 Tb-spoon
Garnishing –
Chopped cilantro/coriander
Shredded fresh Coconut
Method:
1. Combine Chana and Urad Daals,
wash well and soak in water overnight (at least 8 hrs).
2. Drain out water and add daals
to food processor or mixer blender. Add Yogurt and grind daals by using 1/4th
cup of water.
3. Take out the mixture into a
bowl and add Chickpea Flour, Salt, Turmeric Powder, asafetida. Mix well, cover
and keep in warm place overnight to ferment.
4. Once fermented, add Green
Chili Paste, Ginger, Oil and Lemon/Lime Juice. Mix well.
5. Grease a steel dish with a
high rim and place it empty in a pot with 1 inch water
for steaming. Use another bowl at
the bottom of the pot to prop up the dish out of
the water. Cover pot and allow
the water to come to a boil. You can use pressure cooker without whistle.
6. When the water starts to
steam, add fruit salt to the batter and mix well in one direction. Remove the
empty dish from the pot and pour in batter. After adding fruit salt, you have
to really fast in this step.
7. Place dish back into the pot,
cover and steam for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove Khaman from the pot
and leave on counter to cool for 10-15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile heat Oil in a small
pan. Add Mustard Seeds and allow them to crackle. Add Asafetida and Slit Green
Chilies. Cook for 1-2 minutes, turn off stove and sprinkle a little salt. Keep
aside. If you like you can add a tablespoon of sesame seeds also in the same oil,
but before adding the chilies.
9. In a small bowl, mix 6 Tbsp
Water, 1 Tbsp Sugar and 1 Tbsp Lemon/Lime Juice.
Keep aside.
10. Grease a sharp knife and cut
Khaman into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Remove and arrange pieces on a platter. Mix
Water/Sugar/Lemon solution with Green Chili Seasoning and mix well.
11. Drizzle the mixture over the
Khaman pieces and allow them to absorb all of the liquid.
12. Garnish with chopped Cilantro
Leaves and grated Coconut.
13. Serve with Mint and Tamarind
Chutney.
Note :
For variation and nice look you
can use the mini idli pot and steam small idlies the same way you cool khaman.
Add seasoning on the idlies and serve small khaman idlies. No need of cutting
them. Good for the parties.
For sev Khamani you need -
Ingredients:
1. Khaman – 20 pieces (without
any seasoning)
2. Oil – 1 tb-spoon
3. Finely chopped garlic– 2
tb-spoons
4. A pinch of asafetida (hing)
5. Green chilies – chopped, as
per taste.
6. Pomegranate seeds – ½ cup
7. Chopped cilantro/coriander – 2
tb-spoons
8. Shredded coconut – 2 tb-spoons
8. Fine sev – 1/4th cup
Procedure:
1. Crumble the khaman in a bowl
and keep aside. If needed strain them into a strainer for fine powder without
lumps.
2. Heat the oil in a small pan
and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add chopped garlic and
asafetida and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds till the garlic become
light brown in color.
3. Add green chilies to taste and
turn off the heat.
4. Add crumbled khaman and mix
well. Take out the mixture in a serving bowl. Garnish with fine sev, coconut,
cilantro and pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.
5. Serve mint and tamarind
chutneys with this sev khamani.
Note :
1. You can skip pomegranate seeds
if you don’t like them in this particular dish. But pomegranate seeds give nice
crunch.
2. Traditionally garlic is
necessary for this sev khamani, though not for khaman itself.