Tiranga Dhokla

In honor of India's Independence Day on August 15th, I have made this tasty and colorful dish. Dhoklas are steamed snacks that originate from Gujarat. To represent all three colors of the Indian Flag, this Tiranga (means "tricolor") Dhokla was made with dhokla batter, mint coriander and spinach paste and red chili paste. You can also use only spinach puree for the green color and carrot puree for the orange. Enjoy!!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serving: 4


Ingredients:

• 4 cups dhokla batter (see the notes below to make homemade batter or you can get it ready made from the Indian store)
• 1/4 cup mint coriander and spinach paste (ingredients below)
• 2 tablespoons red chili paste (ingredients below)
• 2 tablespoons oil (for greasing the plate and for tempering/tadka)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander leaves (for garnishing)
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon roasted cumin/jeera powder
• 1/2 teaspoon soda bicarbonate (Eno soda)
• 1 tablespoon grated coconut
• Pinch hing/asafoetida 
• Salt to taste

For Green Paste:

• 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup mint leave
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped ginger
• Salt to taste

For Red chili paste:

• 1 1/2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped ginger
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. First make green coriander, spinach and mint paste in a mixer (you can add little water if required to grind the paste)
2. Separately, make the red chili paste in the mixer (you can add little water if required to grind the paste)
3. Divide the dhokla batter into three parts - one for green, white, and orange.
4. For the green batter, add green paste to the batter and mix well 
5. For the orange batter add red paste to the batter and mix well
6. Divide eno/bicarbonate soda in three parts and add into green batter first, then white batter, finally orange batter and mix well
7. Heat water in a steamer pot
8. Grease the plate ( deep dish/thali )and transfer the green batter into plate, steam it in the pot for 3 to 4 minutes
9. When it is done pour white batter for white layer on top of the green layer and steam it again for 3 to 4 minutes
10. Now add orange layer on top of the white layer, sprinkle red chili powder and cumin powder and steam it for about 10-12 minutes (to test if the dhokla is done - insert a knife or toothpick to see if it comes out clean. If it does - it is ready)
11. When it is done, remove and allow to cool
12. For tempering, heat remaining oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add sesame seeds and hing. Then, pour the tempering over the tri- colored dhokla
13. Cut it into squares and garnish with chopped green coriander leaves and grated coconut
14. Serve with green chutney

Notes:

For homemade dhokla batter use 1 cup rice and 1/4 cup urad dal. Soak rice and dal separately for 5 hours. Grind it in a grinder and make batter like idli batter. Add 1/2 cup sour yogurt and leave the batter overnight for fermentation. Add salt, 1 tablespoon chili ginger paste and then divide into 3 equal portions.