Khandvi

The batter is cooked to a paste, spread thin and rolled tight while it is warm.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 120 g gram flour, besan
• 250 g yoghurt
• 500 ml water
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 2 green chillies, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 40 g coconut, grated, and 20 g coriander, to finish

Method

1. THE BATTER IS COOKED TO A PASTE, SPREAD THIN AND ROLLED TIGHT WHILE IT IS WARM. Its article gives the three steps that are the whole dish: a batter of gram flour and yoghurt seasoned with ginger paste, salt, water, turmeric and sometimes green chilli is COOKED DOWN TO A THICK PASTE, then SPREAD THINLY ON A FLAT SURFACE, and the khandvis are ROLLED UP TIGHTLY into two or three centimetre pieces. Nothing is steamed, fried or baked. It is a cooked paste that sets as it cools, and the rolling has to happen in the minute or two between spreadable and set.
2. THE BATTER IS WHISKED COMPLETELY SMOOTH COLD. Gram flour, yoghurt, water, turmeric and salt, beaten until there is no lump at all. A lump here is a lump in the finished roll and there is no fixing it later.
3. IT IS STIRRED WITHOUT STOPPING OVER A MEDIUM HEAT. Ten to twelve minutes. It goes from liquid to custard to paste, and it catches on the bottom the moment it is left.
4. IT IS DONE WHEN A SMEAR ON A COLD PLATE PEELS OFF CLEANLY IN TEN SECONDS. That is the only reliable test. Undercooked, it will not peel; overcooked, it tears.
5. THE SURFACE IS GREASED AND IT HAS TO BE LARGE. The back of two baking trays, or a clean worktop. A hundred and twenty grams of flour makes a surprising area because it is spread almost transparent.
6. IT IS SPREAD WITH A PALETTE KNIFE AND FAST. Thin and even in long strokes, working in one direction. Thick patches will not roll.
7. IT IS CUT INTO STRIPS AND ROLLED WARM. Strips about four centimetres wide, rolled from one end into tight cylinders of two or three centimetres as its article says.
8. THE TEMPERING GOES OVER THE FINISHED ROLLS. Mustard seeds, sesame and curry leaves in hot oil, poured across them, then coconut and coriander.
9. IT IS SERVED HOT OR COLD, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS. And sometimes with a garlic chutney.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes