Instant Ondhwa (Handvo) (Savoury lentil cake)

My recipe for making traditional gujarati Ondhwo/ondhwa is here.  Ondhwa  is a perfect dish to serve for weekend brunches, snacks and picnics.  I often serve it at BBQ’s too.

I had been meaning to try making instant Ondhwo without using the store bought flour for a while now.  I decided to make it for Sunday brunch. The Ondhwo turned out really tasty.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 

• 2 cups of ground chick pea dall (I soaked 2 cups of  chana dall and blended it in a blender using some water.  You can freeze the left over mixture)
• ½ cup corn flour
• ½ cup chick pea flour (Chana flour)
• ½ cup wheat flour
• ½ cup yogurt 
• ½ cup chick peas or which should be soaked overnight and then boiled until soft. (you can used canned version too!)
• 1 onion – chopped finely
• 1 carrot – grated
• 1 cup grated cabbage
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables ( you can use any mixture you like)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 tsp. grated ginger
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon chilly powder (optional)
• 3-4 green chillies – finely chopped (optional)
• ½ tsp soda bicarbonate
• 3-4 tsbp lemon juice
• 1 tsbp sunflower seeds  (optional)
• For the tempering:
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 4-5 tbsp oil 
• 3-4 tbsp sesame seeds (save some to sprinkle on the top of the ondhwa)
• 2-3 cloves
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 dried red chilly (optional)

1.  Pour all your flours into a mixing bowl and add yogurt and 1 cup of warm water and stir until smooth.

4.  Add the lemon juice, mix and add the soda bicarbonate.  The mixture should now rise a bit.

5. In a separate saucepan, heat the oil and add the tempering mixture – sesame seeds, cloves , cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, dried chillies.  Once the spices stop popping add them to the ondhwa mixture and stir.

6.  Transfer the mixture to a greased cake or bread tin and sprinkle some sesame seeds and sunflower seeds on the top and cook at 170 degrees C for 30 minutes.  Lower the heat after that to 140 degrees for 20 minutes.  Check if its cooked by putting a knife into the middle of the ondhwa and it should come out dry if its cooked. The top of the Ondhwa should be crispy and look fairly dark brown.