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Dhokla Recipe: Fermented Khatta Dhokla With Chana Dal and Rice

By Updated 2 min read

Dhokla is Gujarat’s beloved fermented steamed cake — spongy, tangy, golden, and ready in 24 hours. Learn the authentic chickpea flour fermentation, steaming technique, and signature mustard-seed tempering.

At a glance

Traditional (khatta) dhokla is made by soaking chana dal and rice, grinding them with a little yogurt, fermenting the batter overnight at 25–30°C until sour and bubbly, steaming it for about 20 minutes and finishing it with a mustard-seed and curry-leaf tempering. Soaking, fermenting and steaming sharply reduced tannins, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitors in research. Khaman is the quicker besan version raised with baking soda.

  • Khatta dhokla: fermented chana dal and rice batter; khaman: besan raised with baking soda.
  • Ferment overnight (8–12 hours) at about 25–30°C, then steam about 20 minutes.
  • Processing cut tannins 100%, phytic acid 94% and trypsin inhibitors 92% vs raw ingredients.
  • Fermentation didn't improve zinc or iron availability in a dhokla-type batter.
  • Steamed, so no live cultures.

Ferment profile

Origin
Gujarat, India
Fermentation
Lactic acid
Main microbes
Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts from the dal, rice and yogurt
Live cultures
No (cooked, baked or pasteurized)
Alcohol
None / trace

Dhokla is Gujarat’s steamed, spongy, savory cake: a fermented batter of split chickpeas (chana dal) and rice, steamed, cut into squares and finished with a sizzling tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chili. It’s eaten for breakfast and as a snack with green chutney. India has many fermented cereal-legume foods like it – idli and dosa in the south, dhokla in the west (Tamang, 2022).

Khatta Dhokla vs. Khaman

The bright yellow, very fluffy squares sold as “dhokla” outside Gujarat are usually khaman, made from chickpea flour (besan) raised quickly with baking soda or fruit salt (Eno) – no fermentation needed. Traditional khatta (“sour”) dhokla is made from soaked and ground chana dal and rice, fermented overnight until sour and bubbly. Both are good; this recipe is the fermented one. Either way it’s steamed, so dhokla contains no live cultures – fermentation’s role is flavor, texture and changes to the batter.

What Fermentation Does to the Batter

  • Antinutrients fall. In a study optimizing dhokla, soaking, fermenting and then steaming the batter for 20 minutes cut tannins by 100%, phytic acid by 94%, trypsin-inhibitor activity by 92% and total biogenic amines by 20% compared with the raw ingredients. Amines actually rose during fermentation and fell again on steaming – a reason to steam fully (Sharma et al., 2018).
  • More phenolics. Fermented dhokla and idli batters had more than 2.5 times the total phenolic content of unfermented batters (Moktan et al., 2011).
  • Not a mineral boost. Fermentation increased the zinc and iron available from idli and dosa batters, but not from a dhokla-type batter of chickpea, green gram, black gram and rice, which kept much of its phytate (Hemalatha et al., 2007).

Tips

  • Ferment somewhere warm (about 25–30°C); in a cool kitchen use an oven with just the light on.
  • The batter should be bubbly, slightly risen and pleasantly sour – not putrid.
  • A pinch of baking soda stirred in just before steaming is common at home for extra lift; it doesn’t replace the ferment.
  • Steam over steadily boiling water and test with a knife: it should come out clean.

For more fermented batters, see jalebi and our idli and dosa guides above.

Recipe: Khatta Dhokla (Fermented Chana Dal and Rice)

Makes
One 20 cm (8 in) pan, 4–6 servings
Hands-on
45 min
Fermentation
Soak 4–6 hours; ferment 8–12 hours at 25–30°C
Temperature
25–30°C (77–86°F)
Difficulty
Moderate

Equipment

  • Blender or wet grinder
  • Large bowl
  • Steamer with a rack and lid
  • Greased 20 cm pan
  • Small pan for tempering

Ingredients

  • 200 g (1 cup) chana dal (rinsed)
  • 100 g (½ cup) short-grain or parboiled rice (rinsed)
  • 3–4 tbsp plain yogurt or buttermilk
  • 1 tsp + ½ tsp salt and turmeric
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger and green chili (optional)
  • Pinch baking soda (optional, just before steaming)
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tsp oil and black mustard seeds (for the tempering)
  • 8–10 + 2 curry leaves and slit green chilies
  • To finish lemon juice, a little sugar and water, cilantro, grated coconut

Method

  1. Soak the chana dal and rice in plenty of water for 4–6 hours, then drain.
  2. Grind with the yogurt and just enough water (about 150–200 ml) to make a smooth, thick batter.
  3. Stir in the salt and turmeric, cover loosely and leave at 25–30°C for 8–12 hours, until bubbly, slightly risen and pleasantly sour.
  4. Stir in the ginger and chili (and a pinch of baking soda if you like), pour into the greased pan about 2–3 cm deep.
  5. Steam over boiling water, covered, for about 20 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and cut into squares.
  6. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, then the curry leaves and chilies; add a splash of water, a pinch of sugar and lemon juice, and pour over the dhokla. Garnish with cilantro and coconut.
  7. Discard batter that smells putrid or grows mold rather than smelling sour.

Frequently asked questions

Is dhokla fermented?

Traditional khatta dhokla is – the chana dal and rice batter ferments overnight. Instant khaman is raised with baking soda or fruit salt instead.

What's the difference between dhokla and khaman?

Dhokla (khatta dhokla) is a fermented dal-and-rice batter; khaman is a fluffier besan batter leavened chemically. Many people call both dhokla.

Why didn't my dhokla rise?

The batter was under-fermented (too cool or too short), too thin, or the steamer wasn't boiling. Ferment somewhere warm until bubbly and steam over a full boil.

Is dhokla healthy?

It's a steamed, low-fat dal-and-rice snack. Processing reduces antinutrients, though one study found fermentation didn't increase its zinc or iron availability. It contains no live cultures.

Can I make dhokla without yogurt?

Yes – the batter ferments with its own bacteria and yeasts; it may just take a little longer. Buttermilk also works.

How long does dhokla keep?

Best fresh; refrigerate leftovers and eat within about 2 days. Leftover batter keeps a day in the fridge.

Sources

  1. Sharma A et al. (2018). Preparation of antinutrients-reduced dhokla using response surface process optimisation. J Food Sci Technol 55(6):2048–2058. Link
  2. Moktan B, Roy A, Sarkar PK (2011). Antioxidant activities of cereal-legume mixed batters as influenced by process parameters during preparation of dhokla and idli, traditional steamed pancakes. Int J Food Sci Nutr 62(4):360–369. Link
  3. Hemalatha S, Platel K, Srinivasan K (2007). Influence of germination and fermentation on bioaccessibility of zinc and iron from food grains. Eur J Clin Nutr 61(3):342–348. Link
  4. Tamang JP (2022). "Ethno-microbiology" of ethnic Indian fermented foods and alcoholic beverages. J Appl Microbiol 133(1):145–161. Link
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