Gujarati Flours

Gujarati cooking has several flours made for a single dish. Dhokra flour, a coarse mix of rice and chana dal, ferments with yoghurt into the batter for dhokla and white idada. Ondhwa, or handvo flour, blends rice with toor, chana and urad dal for handvo, the savoury cake baked with bottle gourd, sesame and mustard seed. Magaj flour is coarse gram flour, roasted in ghee for magas, the fudge like sweet made at Diwali.

Using these flours in place of soaking and grinding at home saves a day of preparation, and the coarse grind gives the right crumb. Dhokla made from dhokra flour is lighter and more open than instant besan dhokla. They are bought in modest quantities, since most families make these dishes a few times a month.

For dhokla and handvo, mix the flour with sour yoghurt and warm water into a thick batter and leave it somewhere warm for six to eight hours to ferment before adding salt, ginger, chilli and a pinch of soda. For more speciality flours, see millet flour and farali flour in millet and gluten free flour.