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Recipes | Spinach Rolls & Instant Savory Cake – Two Healthy Snacks with Chickpea Flour

23 April 2012 40 Comments

Spinach Khandvi or A healthy chickpea flour snack

Ahaa.. finally its here – the Summer Holidays, time we all look forward to year after year! Trip to home town, loads of  ‘me time’ to relax and also to complete all the pending tasks I have been procrastinating the whole year wearing the shield of ‘no time’ 😉

My euphoria is but short lived, the very next day of the holiday and the mom is busier than ever. Library, cricket coaching, dance classes, piano lessons…and repeat. Well, as a good mother I also need to keep my children engaged and make their holiday more productive. Till then..’me time’ can wait.

Baking cookies, cup cakes and making easy bite size snacks is one another way I keep them occupied during the steamy hot afternoons. They love to mess up their hands with the sticky dough, make shapes and wait eagerly to see the outcome of their kitchen stint. This time they helped me in rolling out these spinach rolls, promised to clean the kitchen and eat whatever they roll out.

Khandvi and Khaman Dhokla are the two very popular tea time snacks in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan inIndia. Made with chickpea flour the recipes are a savior for those days when guests drop in uninformed and you wish to entertain them and also impress them with your cooking prowess. The recipes have very few ingredients and could be made within a few minutes with a little practice. These recipes are also shared on Open Kitchen , a wonderful online magazine run by my foodie friend Nicoletta and her friends.

Indian tea time snack ‘Khandvi’ is a very healthy steamed lentil rolls. My twist to the recipe is to add Spinach in the batter which not only increase the health quotient but imparts a wonderful color to the recipe. It takes a lot of patience to roll out a perfect Khandvi, the  batter has to have the correct consistency to do the same. Try with half the quantity of the recipe to get the feel of the whole process. I will not reveal my ‘number of attempts’ for getting a perfect Khandvi…in case..

Healthy Spinach Rolls or Khandvi

Spinach Khandvi or A healthy chickpea flour snack

Ingredients to go in…

Ingredients;

Serving; 12- 15 roils

Preparation time; 15 minutes

  • 1 cup chickpea flour/green gram flour
  • 1 cup yogurt/curd
  • ½ cup chopped spinach leaves
  • 1 ½ cups of water
  • ½ tsp. red chilly powder
  • ½ tsp. sugar
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • A pinch of assafoetida powder (optional)

Tempering;

  • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp. grated coconut
  • ½ tsp. lemon juice
Spinach Khandvi or A healthy chickpea flour snack

Spinach roll stuffed with seasoned grated carrots..

Method; Add all the ingredients (except the ingredients for tempering) in a blender and grind into a very fine paste.

Take a thick bottom pan/non-stick vessel and pour the batter in it. Heat the batter for 10-12 minutes on slow flame stirring continuously to avoid lumps.

The batter will start leaving the sides of the vessel. Take off the flame and pour it immediately over the kitchen counter (stone/marble) or in a large flat plate.

Spread it with a spatula in a thin sheet and leave it for 5 minutes to let it cool.

Cut into broad strips using a knife. Roll each strip into spiral shaped rolls. Slice each roll into smaller roundels of about 2-3’ length and place them in a serving dish.

Heat oil in a wok and crackle sesame seeds for a few seconds and add lemon juice in it. Pour this tempering over the sliced Spinach rolls and garnish with grated fresh coconut.

Stuffed Spinach rolls; Grate cucumber, carrots and raw mango. Add salt, black pepper and fill a little of this filling before rolling the stripes. Green coriander and mint chutney, garlic mayonnaise and tomato sauce are some other filling options.

Instant Savory Cake or Khaman Dhokla – A Popular Indian snack

khaman dhokla chickpea flour savory cake

Indian delicacy ‘Khaman Dhoklas’  are seasoned spongy Lentil flour savory cakes which are easy and quick to cook and serve as a delicious tea time snack.

khaman dhokla chickpea flour savory cake

Ingredients to go in…

Ingredients;

Serving; makes 10-12 pieces

Cooking time; 15 minutes

(Makes about 10-12 small pieces)

  • 1 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 tbsp. semolina
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tbsp. oil
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. Eno (fruit salt)
  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • Pinch of asofoetida powder (optional)

For tempering;

  • 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
  • 2 small green chilies
  • 2 tbsp. oil
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
  • 2-3 tbsp. Chopped coriander leaves

khaman dhokla chickpea flour savory cake

Method; Take a large vessel and add all the ingredients except the ENO fruit salt. Mix all the ingredients well so that there remain no lumps in the batter.

Add ENO fruit salt in the above chickpea flour batter. It will start to bubble and make a frothy batter. Steam the batter for about 6-7 minutes on high flame. You can use a normal vessel as steamer for the same.

Heat one cup of water in a large vessel, you should be able to place the greased baking tray or the plate in that vessel easily. Pour the batter immediately in the greased baking tray or a large plate. Put a small inverted steel bowl inside hot water vessel.

Place the baking tray or the plate of batter over the inverted bowl and cover it with a lid. Steam it for about 6-7 minutes. Take out the plate of steamed savory cake from the steamer and let it cool little.

Heat oil in a wok and crackle mustard seeds. Add sesame seeds and chopped green chilies. Take the wok off the flame. Mix lemon juice, sugar and water in a small bowl and pour it in the tempering.

Pour the tempering over the cooked savory cake and let it soak for 5 minutes.

khaman dhokla chickpea flour savory cake

Slice the ‘Khaman Dhoklas’ into squares and serve with green chutney or tomato sauce. These istant lentil flour savory cakes make a wonderful tea time healthy snack.

Spinach Khandvi or A healthy chickpea flour snack

Notes;

  • The best tip for these recipes is to dry roast the chickpea flour for a few minutes on slow flame before cooking to get rid of raw smell. This step will also reduce the time you cook the batter.
  • Clean your kitchen counter top (preferably granite or marble) to pour the batter for rolls.
  • Aluminum foil is also a good choice to spread the batter of rolls for a mess free kitchen later.
  • You need to work faster once the batter for the rolls is taken off flame as it will start getting lumpy.
  • Try the first recipe with half the ingredients first to master the technique of mixing and spreading the rolls.
  • Do not make the rolls with any stuffing inside if you are trying the recipe for the first time, it makes the rolls break easily which is quite disappointing in the beginning.
  • ENO has a combination of citric acid and baking soda in it. Citric acid gives a tangy flavor to the recipe while baking soda helps in making the cake spongy.
  • The combo of citric acid and baking soda release carbon dioxide when mixed with water and helps create instant bubbles in the batter making it light and fluffy.
  • Microwave the instant savory cake recipe for 3-4 minutes on high.
  • The savory cake recipe could be tried by soaking dry lentils and grinding it into batter with other ingredients. You can replace ENO with baking soda in the same.
  • These recipes are make an excellent tea time snack, a healthy appetizer and a light refreshing breakfast with almost zero fat content (except the tempering which you can avoid if you wish).

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40 Comments »

  • shama said:

    Delicious dear

  • Deepa said:

    Very healthy and delicious snack busing chickpea flour. Lovely preparation.

    Deepa

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Deepa, Thanks, its quite easy and cooks in no time..hope you make them and enjoy!

  • Vandana said:

    beautiful recipe Sanjeeta… I always thought this was tough; but now I’m wondering if should give it a try soon!
    Let me know if I can add it on my site for healthy & organic food & good living!
    Thanks,
    Vandana

  • chinmayie @ love food eat said:

    Looks so colorful! Such a great healthy and tasty recipe once again.

  • Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal said:

    wow, I love khandavi, and both your varieties look mouth watering 🙂

  • Karriann said:

    They all look amazing and delicious! I especially wanna try the rolls 🙂

    “Happy Cooking”

  • Cham said:

    Love both recipes- the spinach rolls are simply great. I got to try ur dhoklas they look spongy!

  • kankana said:

    That is a fantastic take on khandvi. Not only sounds healthy and flavorful but looks pretty too!

  • Azee said:

    Wow!! Looks fabulous Sanjeeta…Great Clicks!!

  • Anamika said:

    Khandvi looks so perfect..especially the green color makes it so very delcetable!

  • sayantani said:

    the khandvi looks spectacular. adding spinach is a lovely idea.

  • dassana said:

    the yellows and greens are going so well.

    weird it may seem, but i have been thinking about making spinach khandvi and spinach dhokla for the last 4 months. they are still in contemplation…. not in actualization 🙂

    hope i get the time to make these soon.

  • Jayashree said:

    Everything looks fantastic. I have shied away from making khandvi so far because the procedure takes a lot of skill and practice.

  • Priya said:

    Green khandvi looks really fabulous,wat a beautiful dish..

  • Faith said:

    Such lovely recipes! Both look delicious, healthy, and full of flavor. The spinach rolls are really adorable and I love their gorgeous color!

  • Asmita said:

    What a brilliant job you have done with the dhokla and khandvi. My favorite Indian snack.

  • Helene Dsouza I Masala Herb said:

    I swear Sajeeta, the 2 dishes are totaly new to me. interessting that u added Eno to the later one. Cant wait to try that!

  • Denise said:

    The Spinach Rolls look nice. I’ll try to make that this weekend. Thanks for the recipe!

  • Angie@Angie's Recipes said:

    I really love those green chickpea rolls.. a fascinating recipe.

  • Deeps @ Naughty Curry said:

    wow, the colours are just brilliant! that is such a wonderful idea, using spinach to get that green… bookmarked 🙂

  • Swati Sapna said:

    The pictures of the khandvi and dhokla are just beautiful and mouth-watering! The palak really lends it a vibrant colour! Am sure they taste even better than they look 🙂

  • Joanne said:

    I was just thinking yesterday about how I really should use my chickpea flour more and here you are with these excellent recipes! Thanks!

  • Julie M. said:

    First off, stunning pictures. You have me wanting to grab one right off the screen! You’ve really put together a perfect recipe and I love the addition of spinach into the mix. And I have to say, the nice thing about multiple tries is getting to eat the messed up ones along the way. :)~

  • Terra said:

    Both of these treats look just beautiful, and really delicious! I love the idea of the khandvi, what a fun and unique snack idea:-) Hugs, Terra

  • vianney said:

    they rolls look amazing, a perfect snack!

  • the wicked noodle said:

    I’ve never used chickpea flour but this looks like a colorful, fun and delicious way to start!

  • Suzi said:

    These are just beautiful, I love the colors and they sound really tasty. Bookmarking these. Thanks and hope you are having a wonderful day.

  • Magic of Spice said:

    I absolutely love both of these, and I really want to give those delightful rolls a try!

  • Baker Street said:

    Sanjee: I’ve never tried spinach rolls but they sound absolutely divine. I must try your recipe. 🙂

  • mjskit said:

    All of these beautiful pictures of delicious food has me starving all of a sudden. Those rolls really have me curious. They look different from most rolls I’ve seen – thick, moist and full of flavor! I could go on and on about the sponge cake. It’s hard to believe it’s a savory cake. Great collection of recipes!

  • Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen said:

    Now that’s a beautifully presented snack, so pretty!

  • lakshmi said:

    Hi ,

    I tried the dhokla , savory cake, oh my god.. it came out amazing. love it.

    thanks for posting such a easy and simple recipe

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Lakshmi, Glad that you liked the recipe and it came out well! Keep cooking and sharing love through your food. Hugs.

  • Richa@HobbyandMore said:

    love the addition of spinach to the rolls.. nice way to add more greens to the daily diet!

  • Rashmie @ Mommy Labs said:

    Hi,
    I found your blog when looking for healthy white sauce recipe. Love your recipes and pictures. This one is my fav, too. I’m a Rajasthani (from Jodhpur) and have a taste for sweet+savoury. The spinach version is healthy indeed.
    Following you along now!

  • Raggi said:

    Hi Sanjeeta,

    I was looking for some healthy & delicious recipes for my 2.4 years old son who is a fussy eater. I was really worried about his health. I’m so happy that I found this site. The recipes are too good. I have already tried the khandvi its mouth-watering! I’ll definitely try the dhokla too. Your spinach sandwich is my son’s favorite now. Thanks a lot dear.

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Raggi, Welcome to Lite Bite, glad that your son is enjoying his food now. Keep rocking with your food and healthy cooking! Hugs.

  • Cindhuja said:

    hi..tried khandvi today..actually i was not able to roll it @ all 🙁 … so i was upset..anyways it tasted gud..particularly with the seasoning ..thanx..

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Cinhuja, Awee…I understand, it took many futile efforts for me aslo to get that perfect shape…but even I fail at times. Keep trying and you will sure become an expert soon. Hugs.

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