Recipe: Amiri Khaman/Gujarati Sev Khaman
Amiri Khaman /Gujarati Sev Khaman is a popular street food in the state of Gujarat. Khaman is dhokla made from ground chana (chickpea) dal or chickpea flour. Leftover khaman is used for Amiri Khaman/Gujarati Sev Khaman recipe. The leftover dhokla is crumbled up by hand. It is topped with grated fresh coconut, thin sev and chutneys. And there, in an instant you have a chatpata, delicious snack.
I sometimes prepare it with leftover instant or moong dal dhokla too. There is no hard and fast rule that you have to use khaman dhokla. Serve it chutneys of your choice. We love it with green chutney and the garlic one.
Sharing This Recipe With FoodieMonday/ Bloghop Group
The theme suggested for this week is Tea Time Savouries. I decided to share Amiri Khaman or Gujarati Sev Khaman recipe. In fact, I was going to skip this week’s theme as I’ve been busy getting the new home ready and also with my daughter’s wedding preparations. I get a call from my daughter’s future mother in law that they are coming to Bangalore for wedding shopping and also to finalize some of the wedding event details. I prepared a typical full Gujarati thali for them which included some dhokla.
Next day part of the breakfast snack along with idlis was Amiri Khaman. Luckily got to take pictures before everyone came to the table. Thus decided to share the recipe for the theme. Also, 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.
Angels are often disguised as daughters
The weeks just goes by so quickly. Every day I wake up and say to myself, 2 more 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”, said her future mother in law. I wanted to burst into tears at that moment, as reality is fast approaching that she will be part of another family too and not just ours. 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 alone at the dining table and writing this post and can cry openly.
Present Day
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 Got Married
When my mum 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 alone 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.
When I Got Married
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 for the delivery of my first born. After that I saw them after 3 years, when I travelled to UK to spend time with them. Well, life has to carry on and we cannot keep our children attached to our apron strings. They have to lead their own life. Well, that is me trying to convince myself.
Some More Savory Snacks to Check Out:
Ingredients Required For Amiri Khaman/Gujarati Sev Khaman
- Chickpea Flour – bengal gram flour, besan, chana no lot – if you are making the dhokla at home. You can always choose to buy ready made ones.
- Semolina – medium coarse, for the dhokla, if making at home.
- Fresh Ginger Paste – for the dhokla
- Fresh Green Chilli – for the dhokla you need in the paste or minced form. For the tempering need to slice them into rings.
- Garlic Paste – for the dhokla
- Turmeric Powder – for the dhokla
- Sugar – for the dhokla
- Salt – for the dhokla
- Eno – or soda bicarbonate (baking soda) for the dhokla as the leavening agent. If you use soda bicarbonate, do not add turmeric powder. The dhokla will have brown spots.
- Oil – for the dhokla and tempering.
- Warm Water – for the dhokla.
- Mustard Seeds – rai, for tempering
- Sesame Seeds – tal, simsim, for tempering
- Curry Leaves – limdi, limdo, kari patta for tempering
- Fresh Coriander – chopped for tempering and garnishing.
- Cashew Nuts – chopped for tempering. Optional
- Asafetida – hing for the tempering, optional
- Lemon Juice – optional
- Pomegranate Arils – for serving the amiri khaman with.
- Fresh Grated Coconut – for serving the amiri khaman with.
- Thin Sev – mostly available ready made, these are thin noodle like savory snack made from chickpea flour.
- Green Chutney – for serving the amiri khaman with. Its optional. Click on the name for the recipe.
- Garlic Chutney – for serving the amiri khaman with. Its optional. Click on the name for the recipe.

AMIRI KHAMAN/GUJARATI SEV KHAMAN
Ingredients
FOR THE DHOKLA:
- 1½ cups besan flour
- 1½ cups semolina
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp green chilli paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 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
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ½ cup chopped fresh coriander
- 2-3 green chilli cut into thin slices
- ½ cup chopped cashew nuts
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
FOR SERVING:
- 6-8 tbsp pomegranate seeds/arils
- ½ cup grated fresh coconut
- ½ -¾ cups thin sev
- 1 cup green chutney
- ½ cup garlic chutney
Instructions
PREPARATION OF THE DHOKLA
- Mix besan flour and semolina together in a big bowl.
- Add all the remaining ingredients for dhokra, except for the eno and mix well.
- Cover and keep the mixture on the side for 15-20 minutes
- 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.
- Take a wide saucepan with a lid or a wide wok. Put about 2 -3 cups of water in it.
- Keep it on a medium low flame to heat.
- Take one steel or aluminium plate which is about 7-8" in diameter.
- Grease it with oil well.
- 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.
- When the water begins to boil, take the mixture and add the eno (fruit salt).
- Mix it very well till the mixture becomes fluffy.
- Pour the mixture into the plate.
- Cover the pan and steam the dhokla for 10 minutes over medium high flame.
- After 10 minutes take the pan off the heat, remove the lid and the plate with the dhokla.
- Let the dhoklas cool down completely.
PREPARATION OF AMIRI KHAMAN/GUJARATI SEV KHAMAN
- Crumble the dhokras with your hands till it resembles like bread crumbs.
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
- When it is hot, add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, chopped cashew nuts and stir for a few seconds.
- Then add curry leaves (take the leaves off the stem), asafoetida, chopped green chillis and coriander.
- Stir fry the mixture for a few seconds.
- Add the crumbled dhokra. Lower the heat.
- Mix very well. Add lemon juice and mix.
SERVING AMIRI KHAMAN/GUJARATI SEV KHAMAN
- Spoon the tempered dhokla crumbs into serving bowls.
- Sprinkle with sev.
- Top it with pomegranate and grated coconut and serve.
- Add chutneys according to your taste if you want to. Or serve on the side.
Notes
- 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.
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A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

