Handvo (Savoury rice lentil cake)

You open a cabinet to get hold of a pantry essential and there it is, the fermenting big vessel of weekly Gujrati snack hidden under a stainless-steel lid.

Well, it is only a guess of whether this week its Dhokla or Handvo, or is it the week of no fermentation and fresh besan batter being beaten up for a hot plate of Khandvi or maybe some Khichi being made as evening snack.

Small note:  A bottle of sour buttermilk is very much essential for many of these Gujrati snacks.

But keeping this tiny fun fact aside -This week we will be focusing on the year round made fermented steamed Gujrati snack Handvo albeit with different fillings according to season -fenugreek, bottle-gourd, corn, cabbage, zucchini, carrot are some of the various vegetables used.

But what is a Handvo? 

Handvo is a sufficiently risen, sweet-sour yet crumbly, a little gritty savoury rice and lentil cake that which is usually pan baked with a crispy golden brown sesame seed crust.

But the definition is not limited-you may replace grain with millets, use various seeds as per your liking, bake it in an oven etc.

So, there are many ways to make a Handvo – you just need the batter ratio perfected and then you can make many different possibilities.

Here we will be focusing on a good fermented Handvo that can be replicated ample number of times.

And that comes with a handy Handvo flour, the custom of having a flour-based fermentation has been used from a long time in my house.

Let me tell you why?

With the advent of exposure to newer cuisine, growing nuclear families and availability of online ordering, elders usually saw a diminishing interest in cooking and eating local culturally valued food among younger generations citing the long wait and labour in traditional methods.

Above all most commonly people usually forget to soak their lentils.

And hence derived with the solution of preparing Handvo flour or making Handvo from flours instead of soaked dals (which is great way too with a slightly longer time) so that they can be easily made for evening snack whenever needed.

Short answer-convenience. And in this day and age who does not love convenience especially when you can make something healthy and yummy easily at your home.

So, we will be discussing

How to make Handvo flour?

1. Clean, wash, and dry your rice and lentils in sun or pan till moisture evaporates to grind them to a coarse flour.
2. Use mixer if making in small quantities- say 2 times the recipe shown below or at an atta chakki if preparing huge batches.
3. The ratio is usually 6:3:1 (Short grain/boiled rice to chana/toor dal to urad dal). Moong/ masoor dal may be added in addition to above dal in same quantity as urad dal.
4. You may also get these flours grind separately (these separately ground flours find a lot of purpose in Indian kitchens and hence are very readily available) and combine in the above ratio on the day of fermentation. – which is the method used at my home.

How to ferment the batter?

1. The Handvo flour is mixed with almost equal quantity of sour buttermilk (slightly more or less) to an almost dropping or dropping consistency and fermented covered in a warm place for 7-8 hours in hot humid climate. More time is required for colder region.

Which and what quantities to add vegetables (fillings)?

1. The vegetables usually used are bottle gourd, corn, fenugreek leaves, spinach leaves, carrot, capsicum, cabbage, zucchini, spring onion greens, potato etc.
2. You may add any vegetable of your choice as long as it gets cooked within Handvo baking time (or add some of them pre-cooked), doesnt take too much away from the rice/lentil flavor or add lots of water. (bottle gourd usually has the water drained out before adding to the fermented batter )
3. Vegetables are added after fermentation and before baking.

Sides to serve?

The Handvo can be served with any side of your choice. Spicy green chutney or fiery garlic chutney, some homemade pickle. But my favourite is God Keri or Katki (both sweet mango pickles) for its sweet and sour punch on the taste buds that complement the warm Handvo very well.

As always, I wish this post and recipe encourages you to be a little freer in the kitchen and cook the food you want with more abandon and feel just like how our moms and grandmoms made it.

Starting with an intermediate level recipe of Handvo that involves a little bit of -Making a batter, Fermenting, Pan-baking and a little Resting. (pun-intended)

Lets start. Shall we?