Sev Khamani

This is usually made with chana dal batter and is delicious.  I had made a mixed dal batter earlier in the week and had been making different things from it- idli, dosa, pizza base. So, I decided to use it to make sev khamani and it turned out great. No one realized that they were eating the same batter that had been used to make dosa the previous night! And it is a protein rich, delicious item which can be served stand alone and will make a complete meal. Or you can serve it as an item on a chaat menu. This is also a gluten free dish.

Ingredients

1 cup each of idli rice, tur dal, urad dal, mung dal, chana dal - soak for a few hours and grind it to make a thick batter (idli consistency)
Ferment overnight.

For the khamani
3 cups of the fermented batter
1/4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

For seasoning
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp jeera
1/8 tsp hing
6-7 large garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tsps sugar, adjust to taste
Juice of 1 lime, adjust to taste
Thin besan sev (one used for bhel)

Method

Grease a bowl with some oil and pour the batter in. Add the salt and turmeric and stir well. Then steam cook it for 20 mins, till it sets (like dhokla or idli). Remove the bowl, let it cool a bit and the break up the cooked batter with the help of a spatula. If it is warm it will be soft and clumpy and won't separate into small pieces but that's ok.

In a large saucepan, heat up the oil and and the mustard and jeera seeds. Once you hear them crackle, add the hing and the garlic. Sauté the garlic for a minute or two and then add the cooked batter pieces and mix well with the seasoning. Now cook this on a low medium heat till the mixture starts to dry up a little and starts separating into smaller pieces instead of being stuck together in large clumps. Since the batter is already cooked, this just provides the texture. Before turning off the heat, add the sugar and lime juice and mix well and turn off the heat. The taste should be sweet and sour and garlicky.

And as it cools down the batter will stiffen and provide the right shev khamani texture.

Now pour this into your serving platter and sprinkle the besan sev liberally on it. Garnish with cilantro. If available add pomegranate seeds as a garnish.

Tips

You can make a different combination of dals and try the recipe.