There are times when you want to go easy on cooking, like even though I am big on gala cooking and all, sometimes I need to laze around a little more than usual. It is for these lazy days, I have kept my secret list of recipes to cook up very quickly and not give up on nutrition.

Khaman is commonly made in the gujarati and marwari households of India. It is something that is cooked every few days. Easy to cook and also to store for a day, this dish will hardly let you down. You can eat it with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney or even with tomato ketchup.

Khaman can be made with a variety of lentil flours – split black lentil , chick pea flour, split yellow lentil and mung bean flour. They can be combined with semolina or white rice flour to make soft spongy khaman.

Mung khaman or dhokla is one of these recipes that will never let you down in terms of taste and will keep you full for a longer time. They are always steamed and then tempered with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. There are many variations that you can try with them like add veggies in the batter, or grind coriander leaves and curry leaves and add them to the batter. It will enhance the flavor of the khamans for sure.

What I have made today is the humblest form of khaman, you remember, I needed to laze around a bit more than usual. Again I have prepared it with my pantry staple, so no going shopping to get any special or exotic ingredients.

Serves: 2 -3 people

Prep time : 5 mins

Soak time: 30 mins

Cooking time 25 mins

Ingredients

2 full cups Mung bean flour

1 cup fine semolina

1 cup yogurt

1 tsp ginger chili paste

8 gms eno salt/ baking soda

salt to taste

1 cup or as required Water

For tempering

2.5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp asafoetida

Method

Mix the mung bean flour and semolina together in a bowl. Add yogurt and water to the mixture. Keep it aside for half an hour.

Get a steamer ready by adding water to the vessel and putting it for heating.

Add more water in the batter if needed. It should be thick pouring consistency. The quality of semolina is varied and hence different amounts of water will be needed for different batters. some might need more and some less.

Add the green chili – ginger paste and salt.

Grease 2 khaman plates or 2 big flat plates. Add the eno salt and stir the batter so as to mix it. do not overdo it.

Divide the mixture and pour it in both the plates . Steam it for 25 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean.

Take it down and let it cool a bit.

Prepare the tempering. Heat oil, add mustard, cumin and asafoetida. Pour it over the khaman and cut them into squares or kite shaped.

Serve with chutney or have it as it is. It tastes very good even without an accompaniment.

Tip 1 : Try adding a little sugar in water and add it to the tempering . Then pour it over the cooked khaman . They will be very soft and also the sugar will enhance the flavor.

Tip 2. Try having khaman without chutneys or ketchup. They normally overpower the original recipes flavor. Thus to actually taste the lentils goodness, have it without chutneys.