Mixed dhal Dhokla

I learned this recipe from my neighbor, shukla Aunty. Mostly she prepares everything from scratch and would be more than happy to share her detailed recipes. I would immediately memorize and write down, while we swap our best dishes on weekends. On the other day she taught me to make dhokla from scratch. As I wanted to try on my own, she suggested using my 6 inch cake pan to steam this dhokla (as I wanted to try it first before buying a proper dhokla maker). Believe me this is a very easy one, just like idly. The dhoklas came out very soft and fluffy, but little bigger than the usual:) we can arrive at the correct thickness if using lesser batter or  a dhokla plate.

Ingredients:

Rice - 3/4 cup
Channa dhal - 1 cup
(Bengal gram)
urad dhal - 1/4 cup
(black gram lentil)
moong dhal - 1/4 cup
(green gram lentil)
salt - to taste
Indian plain yogurt - 1 cup
ginger - 1 inch
green chilly - 2

Garnish:

lemon - 1/2
sugar - 1 tbsp
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
sesame seed - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
cilantro (chopped)- 2 tbsp
green chilly - 3
asafoetida - a pinch
ENO fruit salt or baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Soak the dhals and rice together for 4 hours.
Grind together, add salt and curd / yogurt.
Let it ferment in room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.
Grind ginger + green chilly and mix with batter.
Keep refrigerated till we need.

Steaming the dokhla:

Take out 1 1/2 cups of batter in a separate vessel.
10 minutes before steaming the dokla, add the ENO or baking soda.
(I added ENO's fruit salt. Actually the authentic version won't call for ENO or baking soda. Just the plain fermented batter is enough).
Coat the dokhla pan or a small cake pan with a tsp of oil
Finely chop the chillies and mix few with the batter.
Pour into the pan.
Steam cook for 20 - 30 minutes or till a chop stick comes clean.
(see the photo for steaming technique. we can do it inside pressure cooker without placing the pressure valve also).

Garnish:

Take out the dhokla and place on a serving plate.

In a wok heat oil and let mustard splutter. Then switch off and immediately add sesame seeds,hing (asafoetida), finely chopped cilantro,curry leaf, chillies. Saute for a minute. Mix lemon juice, sugar, salt and add to garnish. Now pour it over the prepared dhokla. Slice and serve.

Alternatively, we can slice the dhokla and add to the fried seasoning.

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack with tea.
Makes a good breakfast also.
Cilantro chutney is a good side dish.
The next day, I sauteed the left over dhokla like idly uppuma and that too tasted yummy with  a dash of idly podi:)

Note:
 In this recipe instead of the mixed dhals, we can just use channa dhal alone to get the traditional dhokla.
Very good dish for people looking for protein rich , less oily spicy snacks.