Traditionally, rice, chana dal, urad dal and tur dal were soaked overnight and ground to make the batter for handvo.
Sangita Agrawal's Rava Vegetable Handvo can be made without fermentation with semolina (suji or rava).
Use any combination of vegetables you like, and serve with a tadka of rai, jeera, til and curry leaves and you have a feel-good treat that's just right for breakfast or as side accompaniment for lunch/dinner or ideal for teatime.
Well-made handvo is an exceptional-tasting farsan.
Sangita's repertoire is mainly perfectly seasoned and cooked traditional Rajasthani and Gujarati vegetarian food, but she often wanders into more experimental zones offering exacting recipes for dosas, soups and tortillas.
You can see all of Sangita Agrawal's recipes here.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Sangita Agrawal
Rava Vegetable Handvo
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- 1 cup suji or rava or semolina
- 2 tbsp besan
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 1 cup dahi or yoghurt
- Water
- 2 tbsp finely chopped beans
- 2 tbsp finely chopped green capsicum
- 3 tbsp grated carrot
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp green chilly paste or chopped green chillies
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves
- ½ + ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ½ + ½ tsp white til or sesame seeds
- ½ + ½ tsp jeera or cumin
- ¼ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chilly powder
- Pinch hing or asafoetida
- 1 tsp Eno fruit salts or baking soda
- Salt to taste, about 1½ tsp
- 1 + 1 tbsp oil
To serve
- Mint and coriander chutney
- Mayonnaise
- Tomato sauce/ketchup
Method
- In a bowl add the suji, besan, rice flour, haldi, chilly powder.
Add the salt and mix well.
Add the dahi and stir.
Add a little water to get a batter of medium-thick consistency.
Cover and rest it for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped vegetables, chopped coriander, half the curry leaves, ginger, chilly paste.
Mix well.
Add the Eno or baking soda and gently stir.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add ½ tsp of the rai, ½ tsp of the jeera, ½ tsp of the til, hing and let it splutter.
Take off heat and add to the batter.
Mix well.
- In the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil for the second tadka.
Once hot, add the remaining rai, jeera, til and the curry leaves and let the spices splutter and spread the tadka and oil so the whole bottom of the pot is lined with it.
Pour the batter over the seasoning.
Spread the batter evenly without disturbing the tadka and the tadka should remain on the bottom.
Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes or more, till handvo is firmly set and has a dhokla-like firmness.
Take off the lid and check if the handvo has set well, else cook a little longer over low heat.
Run a small butter knife around the rim to loosen it from the sides of the pan and then use a spatula to loosen it further from below.
Flip the handvo by placing a large plate or thali on top of the pan.
Holding the plate firmly in place with one hand, flip the pan upside down, so the handvo will fall onto the plate.
You might want to tap and gently shake, so the handvo gently releases and comes out in one piece.
This can be a tricky process and will only happen smoothly if the handvo was loosened well from the bottom of the pan and if the handvo is set.
Slide it back into the pan, so it cooks on the other side as well.
- Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
Check if done by inserting a toothpick.
If it comes out clean, the handvo is ready.
Take off heat, slice and serve with mint-coriander chutney, mayonnaise or tomato sauce or plain.
Editor's Note: A tbsp of ghee, in addition to the oil, in the second tadka goes a long way in adding taste.
Grated doodhi or bottle gourd is also an excellent vegetable to add along with carrots and beans.
You may want to consider omitting the jeera from the tadkas, especially if you are not a lover of the spice.
Consider adding extra chilly powder and a little more hing to the second tadka.
Handvo needs long slow cooking and make take anywhere from 15 minutes to 40 minutes to set. To prevent it from burning cook over low heat and opt to stick a tava under the saucepan to prevent burning and so you get a nice pink crust.
Flipping the handvo so it cooks on the other side too is a tough job because sometimes the handvo cake does not loosen from the saucepan or can break while flipping.
Choose a non-stick saucepan. If it is not coming out of the pan, just cook it on one side only for a little longer, so the handvo is cooked through completely.
For Jain handvo skip the ginger and carrots.
If on a low-sodium diet, don't use baking soda. Potassium bicarbonate is an excellent substitute for baking soda in any recipe. Potassium bicarbonate will do the same leavening job as baking soda, and it doesn't contain sodium. Food grade potassium bicarbonate is available for purchase online.
Make your own mint-coriander chutney from scratch using this recipe.
Sangita Agrawal lives in Mumbai and publishes the food blog Bliss of Cooking.
