First I want to say this is my first post during Ramadan of this year and Ramadan mubarak. This is a perfect snack for iftar and even sahoor as well as whenyou are not even fasting whenever you want something to snack on. Just like the title explains what handvo is. It is a lentil cake with vegetables.
This is popular in Gugerat, India. I have made this before and I liked it so well that I said to my self whenever I get a chance to make this again that I am going to blog on how I made this. I went on a few sites on how to go about doing this at first because I wanted to try something new. Bhavna and Manjula Jain has the best recipe’s for handvo. I even have seen it on show me the curry blog and I said I am going to make it by putting my spin on it.
The way I went about making this is totally my own recipe and it is not restricted to just one type of vegetable. First in a medium bowl add 1/4 cup each of chana ki dal, toor dal, black or white urad ki dal, masoor ki dal moong ki dal and short grain rice. Rinse the dal and rice mixture by adding water to the bowl swish it around and draining the water until the water becomes clear. Put some water in to the dal mixture until it covers all of the dal and rice then cover and place in the fridge to soak overnight. The white urad ki dal is also known as mash ki dal so bear that in mind.
The next day you can see it has swollen up and there is not that much water left. Prheat the oven to 375f or 190C. Take the soaked dal and rice and put it in the food processor. This is done in two batches. Grind on high until it becomes like a thick batter then empty it in to a large mixing bowl. Repeat the next batch until there is no more left to grind.
Next you have the choice of vegetables you want to put in the handvo batter. Peel and deseed 1 small opo or bottle goard squash or 1 chayote squash, cut 2 zucchinis or yellow squash to use in their place or 1 handful of frozen greens, peas, corn, or mixed vegetables. Add also 2 cloves of garlic, 1 small piece of ginger washed and peeled, 1 green chili and turn on food processor again on high to grind,
The next step that follows is 1 pinch each of hing. turbinado sugar. red chili powder, red chili powder in to the hanvo mixture itself. Add either 1/2 cup of urad ki dal flour moong ki dal flour, besan 1/4 cup of rice flour for binding. Stir and add 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 pinch each of eno white and black sesame seeds, 1/2 cup of water to make a batter. Stir very well add 1 tsb of either lemon or lime juice and stir again.
Now for the tarka before it goes in toe the oven which is 1 tsp of corn or canola oil. Let it get hot then add 3 curry leaves, 1 pinch each of hing and mustard seeds. Make sure the mustard seeds are sputtering and carefully add the hot tarka to the handvo batter. Mix again and spray the same cast iron pan with cooking spray. I used a big cast iron frying pan which is so wonderful you can also back in it. Place the handvo in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then check on it by inserting a fork in to it to see if it is coming out clean then place back in oven and let it cook for another 20 minutes or until it is done.
When you test it with a fork for doneness and it comes out clean and you don’t see raw batter then you know it is ready to come out of the oven. Place handvo on top of the stove and let cool a little before cutting and serving.
Enjoy this with tea or kawa.
