Khandvi

One of the most savored Gujarati snack is khandvi. So easy to prepare(!), and so delicious to eat! I still remember khandvi from Daas Khaman House! I used to work at the High Court of Gujarat @ Ahmedabad and right across from street, there was a branch of Daas Khaman! Bunch of friends used to get the take out lunch from there! Dad used to bring rolls of Patra (rolls of Ado leaves, stuffed with chick pea batter and steamed! Yum!) and khandvi from them on his way back home from work.

In Canada, when I came 16 years ago, there wasn't that many Gujaratis or Gujarati restaurants. And hubby dear loves khandvi so I got the recipe from a friend of mine and to my utter disappointment, the first attempt failed! I cooked the mixture for a longer period of time so it went lumpy on me! Well, 2nd try and the same result. I didn't give up and made another batch and voila! That came out perfect. And this time, I tracked time and the texture of the mixture being cooked! I have been following the same since last 15 years and getting exactly the same results always!

Khandvi(Chick Pea flour rolls, steamed)
Makes about a lb.

Ingredients
1 cup besan(chick pea flour)
1.5 cups buttermilk
1.5 cups water
a pinch asafoetida

Salt to taste
Pinch of turmerric powder

for tempering: oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chiles

for garnishing: cilantro

How to:

Grease back of the baking pans, you need almost 4 of them. Set them aside.
Mix the ingredients to a smooth paste. Cook on medium low heat for almost 20 minutes till the mixure becomes thick and the ribbons start to fall down from the spoon! The mixture will bubble less at the last stage of cooking. Check by spreading with a spatula on a back of a small plate. If it spreads smoothly, you are done. If not, cook for a couple more minutes. Now you need to work real fast! Equally divide the cooked mixture on cookie sheets and start spreading in thin layers. By the time you are done with the last cookie sheet, the batter will be cooled down. So now, start cutting strips and rolling them to make khandvis! Prepare the tempering and pour it over the rolls. Garnish with cilantro.

See, didn't I say it is "easy"?!