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)
Method:
1. Pour all your flours into a mixing bowl and add yogurt and 1 cup of warm water and stir until smooth.
2. Mix all your vegetables and chick peas in one bowl. If you are using frozen vegetables, make sure they are defrosted.
3. Mix the vegetables and the mixed flours in a big mixing bowl. Add all the spices and the ginger, garlic and green chillies and mix well.
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.
7. Serve it hot or cold with any sauce. I served it with tamarind sauce.
