588. Amiri Khaman/Gujarati Sev Khaman

Angels are often disguised as daughters

    The week just goes by so quickly. Every day I wake up and say to myself,  2more months, few more weeks before the wedding and so much to do. Yesterday when we were discussing with my future son-in-law and his mum what happens after the wedding ceremony, so it was like bidaai (farewell to the bride) will happen and we take Nami (my daughter) with us. I wanted to burst into tears at the moment, as reality is fast approaching that she will belong to some other family. I had to be really strong and keep a smiling face, but am sure that if hubby dear would have been with me I surely would have burst out crying. As I am writing this, I do have tears in my eyes and right now(Sunday night) am sitting along at the dining table and writing this post and can cry openly. 
    I nearly was going to skip this week's #FoodieMonday#Bloghop, our 58th one with the theme tea time savouries. But, as my blog is not only for food recipes but also a place where I pen down my thoughts, events, happenings etc, I decided to write so that my heavy heart can feel lighter. Blogging is also my way of relaxing and calming myself.
    In this modern age, I know its not like before where daughters were not able to communicate with parents and her family, but its not the same. Priorities change and I feel that I'm losing her. After a few days of her marriage she will be back with us as her hubby to be will be going off to Dubai and she will have to wait till she gets a job there. But for now I feel that a part of my heart will leave me forever.
   When my mum had got married in the early 50s, life for her was really tough. She was the first one from her family to leave her village Koyali in Gujarat and come all the way and that too along by flight to Nairobi, Kenya. It was after nearly 10 years that she was able to go back to India to visit her parents. In the meantime, the only way to communicate with her family was by letters which took days and weeks to arrive back then. 
    Immediately after my marriage, my parents moved to UK. Though I could speak to them over the phone every week(in the 80s phone calls were very expensive), I saw them after 2 years when my mum and dad came to Kenya when I delivered my first born.Well, life has to carry on and we cannot keep our children attached to our apron strings. They have to lead their own life.  
    Coming to my contribution for the tea time savouries, I decided to make Amiri Khaman. I've made the snack a few times and simply love it but hadn't got down to blogging the recipe. I decided to make this snack on Saturday as I thought that when my future son-in-law and his mum arrive, I will serve it as a snack. However, Bangalore traffic is so bad, that it took them nearly 4 hours to reach home, so there was no tea time but served this preparation along with the dinner. 
     Amiri Khaman or Gujarati Sev Khaman is an easy recipe. You can also prepare this using ready made dhoklas(dhokras) or make the dhoklas at home. The recipe for khaman dokhla(dhokras) is easy.I prepared the dhokla at home. What I love about this recipe is that if you are fighting for time, make the dhoklas whenever you have time, store it in the fridge and use it whenever you want. It also does not require any chutneys. I prefer using half besan flour(chickpea flour) and half semolina as that make the crumb much better.
    So what is Amiri Khaman or Gujarati Sev Khaman? Its simply dhoklas that are crumbled, tempered and served with sev, coconut and pomegranate. Serve this at tea time with hot masala tea or a cold drink. Check out the recipe and enjoy this tea time snack.

   

AMIRI KHAMAN/GUJARATI SEV KHAMAN
serves 6-8

For the khaman dhokla:
1½ cups besan flour(chickpea, chana flour)
1½  cups semolina(sooji)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp green chilli paste
1 tsp garlic paste
¼tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1½ tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp eno (fruit salt)
1-1½ tsp salt
1½ cups warm water

For tempering(vaghar):
2 tbsp oil
1tsp mustard seeds (rai)
2 tbsp sesame seeds (tal)
1 sprig curry leaves(limbdi, kari patta)
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
2-3 green chilli cut into thin slices
½ cup chopped cashew nuts
¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice

For serving:
6-8 tbsp pomegranate seeds(arils)
½ cup grated fresh coconut
½ -¾ cups thin sev

Preparation of the khaman dhokra:

1. Mix besan flour and semolina together in a big bowl.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients for dhokra, except for the eno and mix well.
3. Cover and keep the mixture on the side for 15-20 minutes
4. In the meantime get your steaming device ready. If you have a dhokla steamer then use that. I don't have one here so we need to improvise.
5. Take a wide saucepan with a lid or a wide wok. Put about 2 -3 cups of water in it.
6. Keep it on a medium low flame to heat.
7. Take one steel or aluminium plate which is about 7-8" in diameter.
8. Grease it with oil well.
9. Put a ring or stand in the water on which the plate will rest. Put the plate on it.The water should not get into the plate.
10. When the water begins to boil, take the mixture and add the eno (fruit salt).
11. Mix it very well till the mixture becomes fluffy.
12. Pour the mixture into the plate. 
13. Cover the pan and steam the dhokla for 10 minutes over medium high flame.
14. After 10 minutes take the pan off the heat, remove the lid and the plate with the dhokla.
15. Let the dhoklas cool down completely.

Preparation of the amiri khaman:

1. Crumble the dhokras with your hands till it resembles like bread crumbs.
2. Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
3. When it is hot, add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, chopped cashew nuts and stir for a few seconds.
4. Then add curry leaves (take the leaves off the stem), asafoetida, chopped green chillis and coriander.
5. Stir fry the mixture for a few seconds.
6. Add the crumbled dhokra. Lower the heat.
7. Mix very well. Add lemon juice and mix.

Serving amiri khaman:

1. Spoon the tempered dhokla crumbs into serving bowls.
2. Sprinkle with sev.
3. Top it with pomegranate and grated coconut and serve.

Tips:

• Add extra lemon juice according to your taste.
• You can add more roasted cashew nuts on top if you like.
• Don't worry if you don't get pomegranate(which I don't get sometimes). Serve it with finely chopped grapes or cranberries.
• If you find that the crumbled mixture is too dry, add about 1-2 tbsp water when you have tempered the mixture.

You may want to check out the following:

salted roasted peanuts

savoury pizza muffins

yummy corn snack

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