Gujarati recipes, including farsan, one-pot meals, tantalising deep-fried snacks and sweets, are lip-smacking comfort foods that are also super-easy to make – if you’re not afraid to play up your pantry’s basic ingredients. Yes, you don’t need anything out of the ordinary to whip up a Gujarati specialty. In fact, the five Gujarati snack and meal recipes we’ve collated here are the easiest to make at home, on any given day.
1. Khaman Dhokla
If you’ve not tried your hand at the world’s most famous Gujarati dish, Khaman Dhokla, yet, now’s your chance. Here’s what you need to make this soft, appetising snack from scratch -
Ingredients:
2 cups gram flour (besan)
1 cup yoghurt, beaten
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 tbsps oil
2 tbsps coriander leaves, chopped for garnish
1 cup water
Salt to taste
Method:
In a large bowl, add besan, yoghurt, water, salt and mix till this batter is no longer lumpy. Leave it aside for 2-3 hours to ferment. After 3 hours, add ginger-garlic paste and chillies in this batter and mix again. Let it rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, heat a pressure cooker with some water in it (¼ of the cooker’s height). Add lemon juice, baking soda and one teaspoon of oil in the bowl now and mix well. Pour the Khaman Dhokla batter in a greased rounded plate. Place this plate in the cooker over an inverted steel bowl. Cover the cooker with a steel plate and let it cook on medium heat for 25-30 minutes.
While the Khaman Dhokla steams, prepare a seasoning for it by heating one teaspoon of oil in a small pan and crackling mustard seeds in it. Once you cut and plate the Khaman Dhokla, pour this oil over it and garnish with coriander leaves.
2. Fafda
Fafda is guaranteed to be an instant hit in your house, especially during tea time, if you follow the below recipe to the T.
Ingredients:
1 cup besan
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
¼ tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 cup water
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
Method:
Mix besan, baking soda, ajwain, red chilli powder, hing and salt in a large bowl and knead it into a dough by slowly adding water and one teaspoon oil in it. Ensure that the dough’s consistency isn’t too thick. Make small round balls from this dough and roll it out on a flat surface to make not-so-thick strips. Once the strips are rolled out, deep fry them in a pan and serve golden hot.
3. Faraali Pattice
This recipe requires a fair amount of prep time as well as effort, but the end result is a savoury slice of heaven, so definitely give it a shot with the help of the below ingredient-list.
Ingredients:
4 boiled and grated potatoes
¼ cup grated coconut
1 tbsp cashews, chopped
2 tbsps roasted and crushed peanuts
¼ tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 cup arrowroot powder
Rock salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
Method:
Take two large bowls. In the first bowl: Mix coconut, sugar, cashews, peanuts, ginger-green chilli paste, rock salt, lemon juice and chopped coriander to make a filling. In the second bowl: Mix grated potatoes, one teaspoon arrowroot powder and rock salt. The second bowl is the batter for your outer covering of the pattice. Take the remaining arrowroot powder and spread it evenly on a plate. Start making small dumplings by placing a handful of the filling from the first bowl inside the potato mixture, roll it in the arrowroot powder and deep fry until crisp. Serve hot with a side of green chutney.
