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Instant Palak Dhokla | Spinach Dhokla | Healthy Dhokla Recipe

Palak Dhokla also knows as Spinach Dhokla is a nutritious snack recipe made with fresh spinach & besan (gram flour).
This is a gluten-free, beginner-friendly, no onion no garlic (satvik), snack dish often paired with tea or coffee.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Palak (Spinach) , pureed
  • 1.5 cups Besan (Gram Flour)
  • 2-3 Green Chillies
  • 1/2 inch Ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 3 tablespoons Curd (Yogurt)
  • 2 teaspoon Eno Fruit Salt OR 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tablespoon Sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon Oil
  • Water as per require to make the batter
For Tempering
  • 2 tablespoons Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Hing (Asafoetida)
  • 4-5 Curry Leaves
  • 2 teaspoons Sesame Seeds
To Garnish
  • 1/4th cup Coriander Leaves
  • 1/4th cup Fresh Coconut

Method
 

To Make Palak Puree (Spinach Puree)
  1. In a blender add roughly cut palak (spinach), green chillies, and ginger.
  2. Add 2 teaspoons of water and grind to a puree. Blend to a smooth fine paste.
To Make the Dhokla Batter
  1. In a mixing bowl, add palak puree (spinach puree), besan (gram flour), turmeric powder, yogurt (for vegan – skip yogurt and use little water), oil and a half cup of water.
  2. Mix well to smooth batter, and make sure no lumps are formed.
  3. The batter should be thick in consistency but still be flowing.
  4. Once the batter is mixed properly, add salt to taste and sugar and mix.
  5. Meanwhile, prep the steamer or pressure cooker. Add 3 to 4 cups of water to the steamer/pressure cooker. 
  6. The amount of water that needs to be added depends upon the size of steamer / pressure cooker. I have a larger steamer so I added 3 cups of water. 
  7. Ensure their is enough water in the steamer as we need to cook the dhokla for about 20-25 minutes.
  8. Grease the dhokla tray with oil. When the water in the steamer starts to boil, add fruit salt to the dhokla mixture and pour a tablespoon of water over it. This activates the fruit salt.
  9. Quickly stir the dhokla batter. The fruit salt should be mixed evenly with the batter. 
  10. While whisking you will notice that the dhokla batter begins to turn frothy and turns light.
  11. The key here is to mix fruit salt properly with the batter otherwise the dhokla will get uneven texture and can turn out dense.
  12. Immediately pour the batter in the greased tray and tap the try gently so that the surface will get even.
  13. Place the dhokla tray in steamer. Cover the lid and let it cook on medium flame for about 20 minutes.
  14. Incase you are using pressure cooker, remove the whistle while steaming the dhokla, cover with lid and cook.
  15. After 20 minutes check if the dhokla is cooked through. Insert a toothpick or knief in the middle, if it comes out clean then the dhokla is ready. 
  16. If you see the batter getting stick to toothpick or knife then cover for another 5 minutes and cook.
  17. Cooking time of dhokla can vary depending on the variety of besan used .
  18. Once the dhokla is cooked, remove the dhokla tray and keep it aside to cool a bit. By the time dhokla cools down, prepare the tempering.
  19. Once dhokla is luke warm, slide the knife along the edges of the dhokla tray.
  20. Keep the plate over the tray and invert it. As we greased the tray earlier, dhokla will slide very easily from the tray. Cut the dhokla in squares or diamonds as you like.
For Tempeing
  1. In a small tadka pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds begin to crackle add cumin seeds, hing (asafoetida), sesame seeds and curry leaves.
  2. Lower the flame and gradually add half a cup of water to the seasoning. Be careful while adding water as the oil will splutter.
  3. To keep dhokla soft and moist it is important to add water to the dhokla.
  4. Pour this tempering over the dhokla and spread evenly. 
  5. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves & freshly scraped coconut.
  6. Palak dhokla is ready, serve with chutney along with a hot cup of adrak tea (ginger tea)!   

Video

Notes

To make it vegan – skip curd and add a little about 2-3 teaspoons of water.

More Related Recipes

Breakfast Recipes
Snack Recipes
No Onion No Garlic (Satvik) Recipes
Beginner-Friendly Recipes
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