Handvo is a savory Gujarati rice and lentils cake with mixed vegetables. Handvo is either baked or cooked in a pan on stove top. it is a healthy and filling breakfast, tea time snack and a light meal.
½cupLentilsI used equal parts of chana dal, moong dal and urad dal
½cupWater to grind rice + lentils
½cupYogurtpreferably sour (I used regular store bought yogurt)
1 ½ - 2cups grated Bottle Gourd
1medium-sized Carrot or ½ – ¾ cup grated Carrot
1cuploosely packed chopped Spinach
2 - 4tablespoon chopped Cilantro ~ Kothmir
4Green Chilies
1” Ginger piece
1 – 1 ¼ teaspoonSalt
½ - 1teaspoonChili Powder
2 - 3teaspoonLime Juiceskip if yogurt is sour and batter ferments well
Turmeric Powder
1teaspoonFruit SaltENO brand. Though i have not tried, baking powder might be a good substitute for ENO fruit salt
Tempering
3tablespoonOil
¼ – ½teaspoonMustard Seeds
¼ – ½ teaspoonCumin
4 - 6Curry Leaves
¼teaspoon Hing ~ Asafetida
2tablespoon Sesame Seeds
Instructions
Making the batter
Wash rice, mixed lentils and soak for at least 5-6 hours.
Discard the water, put rice and lentils in a strainer and let drain.
Take rice and lentils in blender or a mixer, and grind to a coarse paste using as little water as possible. I used about ½ cup of water.
Transfer to a mixing bowl, add yogurt and mix well.
Fermentation
Ferment for 6-8 hours or preferably overnight. This being winter or almost winter here, though I fermented for 15 hours, felt the batter didn’t ferment well. In cold areas, do ferment a little longer.
Prep work
Grate bottle gourd and carrot. Add ¼ teaspoon salt and keep aside for 5-10 minutes. Then squeeze the juices from the veggies and keep aside both the juice and the vegetable grate.
Preheat the oven to 350 Grease a baking dish or a pan and keep aside.
Chop spinach and cilantro and keep aside.
Grind together ginger, green chilies and add to the batter.
Add salt, lime juice, turmeric, chili powder and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Throw in grated vegetables, chopped vegetables and about ¼ – ⅓ cups of veggie juices into batter and mix well. Add more veggie juice or water if required. The batter should be thick and not flowing consistency.
Tempering
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves.
When seeds splutter, add sesame seeds and hing.
Give a quick stir and turn off the flame.
Add ⅓ of the tempering to the batter and mix well.
Spread another ⅓ of the tempering in the baking dish.
Baking
When ready to bake, add fruit salt and mix immediately. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter in the baking dish, top it with remaining ⅓ of the tempering. Tap the dish once to settle and even the batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 – 45 minutes. It took 35 minutes in a 6 ½” pan. This batter yields two 6 ½” handvo cakes or one 8-9” handvo cake. Bake until tester inserted in the handvo comes out clean.
Turn off the oven, turn on the broil and broil for 5 – 6 minutes to brown the top of handvo. This step is optional but highly recommend for crispy brown top.
Remove from oven and let cool. Ideal, completely cool handvo before cutting or flipping it onto a plate. I found it easier to do this when handvo is completely cool. If in hurry, wait at least 15 minutes before cutting handvo. Some pieces might break if the cake is hot but that is ok.
Serve with green chutney; coriander chutney or coriander mint chutney.