Here's Where I Take Requests. Handvo, Gluten Free Gujarati Bread.

   Here we are, deep in the heart of serious holiday eating, and since Thanksgiving waddled its way out the door I've hardly been in the kitchen. Not that there wasn't a whole helluva lot of cooking going on in that last week of November. There was. Our friend Irving and I whipped up meal after meal, but then once he'd made his way back down to LA, it was party party party. We celebrated our anniversary on Dec 9th. Prior to that we went to a Hanaukkah party, a couple of Christmas parties and had lunch with an old boarding school pal of Alan's who was visiting from the East. Besides that, there has been the continuous cleanup, paperwork, and organizing involved with settling my parents affairs. Needless to say there has not been a lot of cooking, or even eating in going on. Well, all that's about to change, things are about to get back to normal in my kitchen. I figured I'd start with a very unusual for me event. A request. 

   A few weeks ago I got an email from a reader asking me if I'd show him how to make Gujarati Handvo. Considering I've been going through a major Gujarati food crave ever since my trip to LA back in October, it's not such a weird request. I've been making Dhokla, and Khandvi, so why not Handvo? They're sort of the Big 3 of gluten-free Gujarati snack foods, and since a lot of my friends have gluten allergies what could be a more natural fit? We always do a lot of entertaining this time of year and I love serving stuff that not only my gluten free guests, but everyone can enjoy.

  

   Handvo is a Gujarati dish, a spicy, savory cake made of ground rice, lentils and vegetables. Sprinkled with sesame and mustard seed,  it has a crisp, crunchy crust and a a warm soft interior. Perfect. Of course like any popular dish anywhere, everyone has their favorite way of making Handvo, all sorts of additions and twists. The recipe I've got here is a pretty basic one and a great start for novice Handvo bakers. 

   Handvo is traditionally made with Bottle Gourd, which is a large pale green squash, like so.

Don't worry if you can't find any Bottle Gourd where you are, zucchini works just great. One final word about Handvo, it has a prep time. There is a time of soaking and a time for grinding and setting. This takes several hours but the actual baking time is less than an hour. So, once you've set things up you really don't have to worry about much until its time to cook.

Gujarati Handvo

Here's What You Need:

1 cup Basmati rice

1/4 cup channa dal

1/4 cup toor or toovar dal

1 Tbs urad dal

1/2 cup of plain yogurt

2 or 3 finely ground serrano chilies

2 tsp ginger paste (fresh ginger ground with a bit of water to make a paste) 

2 tsp shallot or garllic paste (done the same as above)

1 and 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini

2 tsp of salt or to taste

1/2 tsp of ajwain seed or (fennel seed if you don't have ajwain)

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp citric acid

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 Tbs sesame seeds

3 Tbs vegetable oil (I always use coconut oil)

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili 

3 curry leaves

Here's What To Do:

Rinse the rice and the dals and soak them in a bowl of water for about 6 hours.

Drain the water from the rice and dal.

In a bowl mix together the turmeric, ginger paste, shallot or garlic paste, serrano chilies, salt, sugar andajwain seed. Set it aside.

Grind together the rice and dals.

 Mix in with 1/2 cup of yogurt...

...and then mix in the spices from the bowl.

Blend everything together well. Set it aside.
Shred the zucchini.

MIx 1 and 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini into the batter.

Stir it all together.
In a small skillet heat 1 Tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil has heated slightly, add in the curry leaves (if you have them) and the Kashmiri chili.

Mix this chili oil into the batter.

Stir it well once again. Cover the bowl with a cloth and tuck it away in a warm space to rest for at least 6 or 7 hours, or even overnight.

I soaked my rice and dal overnight, let my batter rest from 11 am to 6pm, and then we had it as an evening snack.

When you are ready to bake your Handvo, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a round or square cake pan or even a muffin tin if you'd like to make individual Handvo.
When the oven is up to speed, mix the citric acid, and the baking soda into the batter stirring in 1 direction only.
The batter will start to get foamy.

Pour the batter into your pan. Scatter 2 Tbs of sesame seeds over the top.

In a small skillet heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot, toss in 1 tsp of brown mustard seeds.
When the mustard seeds start to pop and sizzle pour the vegetable oil and mustard seeds over the cake batter.

Like this.

Cover the top of the cake pan with foil and pop it into the over for 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, remove the foil, turn your oven to broil and pop the cake back in on a broiler rack with the broiler on high.

Let it bake for another 10 minutes or until a crust forms.
Take the pan out and let the cake rest for about 10 to 15 minutes, then cut it up and serve.

     Crunchy on top with a soft center and a bit of kick from the chilies, this is served as an evening snack, for tea or even brunch or lunch. Basically anytime is the right time for Handvo and thank you to the person who suggested I make some. I hope you'll try it too.

    It's a perfect addition to holiday brunches that include gluten free family and friends. Coming up next, holiday treats and even more from Gujarat. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Bread In 20 Minutes Or, The Fast, The Delicious And The Gluten Free!

Every culture and cuisine has their own version of bread and I like all of them. Flat or tall, round, square oblong, leavened, or un, paper-thin or giant heavy slabs. I love the stuff.
 What I don't love is the mixing, kneading, waiting, rising, punching, and pinching that's usually involved in  a lot of the bread making process.
  When I was fixing my buffet for Oscar night I really wanted to be able to watch everyone come down the red carpet, I didn't want to be in the kitchen wielding a tava, turning out hot chapattis like a crazed robot. I know I could have made them ahead and kept them warm but I'm a stickler and for me it's all about the fresh and puffy.
  It doesn't get any fresher or puffier than the light and delicious Gujarati treat, known as Dhokla . The first time I ever made this amazing steamed bread, about 20 years ago, I was in hog heaven. I gorged on it, then moved on to mastering other treats. Last year I started making it again. I'm not neglecting this recipe any more.
I made it for my Bollywood Hollywood Oscar Feast and by the time I made my way over to the buffet for my share of the goodies, the plate had been pillaged. Yes, it's that good. The recipe I used is adapted from a simple traditional recipe featured in Lord Krishnas' Cuisine by Yamuna Devi.
  The recipe requires a bit of time, but it's lazy time in that once the batter is mixed, it's set aside for at least 8 hours or overnight. Go do your thing, let that batter rest wrapped up warm in a safe place. The bread is made and steamed the next day in about 15 minutes. So easy, and since it's made with besan or gram flour made from ground up chickpeas, it's high in protein and gluten free!
    Here's how to make this very simple bread.
       The Prep
  In a bowl mix together :
1.) 1 and 1/2 cups of sifted gram (chickpea garbanzo) flour
2.) 2 hot green chilies finely minced
3.) 1 and 1/2 Tbs of finely chopped fresh ginger
4.) 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
5.) 1/4 tsp turmeric
6.) 3/4 tsp salt
7.) 1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
8.) 3 Tbs of vegetable oil
9.) 2/3 cup of plain yogurt
   Mix it up well. It will be a rather thick batter. Cover the bowl and set it aside in a warm place  for at least 4 hours. I usually leave mine overnight. I keep it in my un-used oven. Important for those of you who do this. Make sure everyone in the house knows you are doing this and the oven remains turned off, otherwise trouble ensues!
    The Baking (steaming)
This is how I steam my bread, it's a pretty basic set-up.
1.) Take a large deep pot .
2.) Fill with about an inch of water or so.
3.) Set an iron trivet in the bottom

The trivet is there to hold the cake pan above the water.
   Grease an 8 inch cake pan with 1 Tbs of vegetable oil
Turn the heat up under your pot with the trivet, bring the water to a boil
When you are ready to steam your bread...
  Prep Your Batter
   1.) Sprinkle 1/2 tsp baking powder
   2.) 1/2 tsp baking soda
 Into the batter, mix it in stirring in one direction
   3.)  3 Tbs of warm water  still stirring in one direction
   The batter will  start to bubble and forth, pour it into the greased pan and lower it into the pot.
 I made cute little tin foil straps to do this as I don't much like being scalded by steam.

When the bread is in the pan, lay a clean dish towel over the top of the pot, tightly

Place the metal lid of the pot over that.

And wrap the tea towel over it.
  Steam the bread for about 8 to 12 minutes. You can check to see if it's done by taking the lid off and poking the bread with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's done.
   Take your bread out of the pot and set the bread pan aside with the towel loosely covering it for about 10 minutes to rest.
   After 10 minutes turn it out onto a plate. Cut it into criss-crossed diamond wedges and scatter it with:
1.) 1/3 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut, or dried grated coconut mixed with a bit of water to soften it.
2.) 3 Tbs of chopped fresh cilantro

                The Garnish
  Just before serving heat :
1.) 1/4 cup unsalted butter in a cast iron pan
  When the butter is hot and foamy toss in
2.) 1/2 Tbs black mustard seeds.

When the seeds start to pop, drizzle the entire mixture over the top of the bread, take it to the table and stand back so you don't get trampled.

  This bread is wonderful hot out of the steamer, and also great at room temperature. This amount of bread added up to about 24 pieces. There were 10 of us and within an hour there was none left.
  This bread is also gluten free (though not sugar free) for those who follow a gluten free diet. It's so good you won't miss the gluten at all.