Handvo - High Protein Breakfast

Here's a high protein breakfast, that's my absolute favorite. It's packed with flavors and this tawa handvo can be had for breakfast, dinner, or tea-time snack.
Handvo is a traditional Gujarati savory cake made with rice, lentils, and lots of vegetables like bottle gourd, fenugreek leaves, and carrots. Spiced with fresh ginger and green chilies, tempered with mustard seeds, sesame seeds, and dried red chilies, this wholesome dish can be enjoyed as a meal by itself or with a side of pickle or green chutney. You can make the batter a day before and wake up to a yummy breakfast with minimum efforts. 

The basic ingredients you need for making handvo are:
Raw rice (1 cup)
1/4 cup tuhar dal (toovar dal/pigeon pea lentils)
1/4 cup green gram dal
1/2 cup chana dal
2 Tablespoons split urad dal (white)
2 Tablespoons curd or plain yogurt for that soft and porous texture. Use fresh thick curd for the best result.
Little bit of oil for the softness of handvo. You can use groundnut oil/sesame oil or any vegetable oil, you use for cooking.
Juice of 1 lemon
Vegetables– You can add veggies like bottle gourd, carrots, peas, methi leaves, etc. Bottle gourd especially adds to the soft texture of this dish. I have added a generous helping of grated carrots, minced ginger, chopped green chilies, and coriander leaves.

For Tempering:
Sesame seeds (I add a good amount as they are calcium rich, full of flavor and impart a wonderful crunch.)
Mustard seeds
Raw moong dal
Raw urad dal
Curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

I’m sharing here one of the methods to prepare a Tawa handvo (the way I make it) but you can even bake it.

Preparing the batter:
Rinse rice and soak for 4 hours.

Rinse all dals (tuhar dal, chana dal, green moong dal, and urad dal) and soak them for 4 hours. (You can soak rice and all dals together.)

Drain excess water from rice and dals and transfer them to a mixer & grinder. Add 1/2 cup yogurt and salt.

Blend until smooth consistency. If required, add 1-2 tablespoons water while grinding. Don’t add too much water.

Transfer the batter to a medium-size container. Cover it with a lid and keep in a warm place to ferment for around 8-10 hours.

The batter rises during fermentation just as it does for idli/dosa batter.

When you stir the fermented batter, you should see the tiny air bubbles because of the fermentation.

Add grated bottle gourd, grated carrot, fresh fenugreek leaves, ginger-green chili paste, 1 teaspoon oil (optional), and turmeric powder.

Mix well. The batter should have a thick consistency.

Pour 1 teaspoon lemon juice over it. Mix well.

The batter has risen nice & airy & fluffy — just how we need!!
Fermented foods are rich in probiotic bacteria so by consuming fermented foods you are adding beneficial bacteria and enzymes to your overall intestinal flora, increasing the health of your gut microbiome and digestive system, and enhancing the immune system.

Directions:
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small non-stick pan over medium flame. Add 1/4 teaspoon of mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, add 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, 1/4 teaspoon raw moong dal, 1/4 teaspoon raw urad dal, a pinch of asafoetida, and 4-5 curry leaves.

Pour approx. 1/2 cup batter (more or less) depending upon the size of a pan and spread it evenly with a spatula to make 1 inch thick handvo.

Cover the pan with a lid or a plate. Reduce flame to low and cook until the top surface looks cooked as shown in the picture and the bottom surface turns light brown (this will take around 4-5 minutes). The time required to cook greatly depends on the thickness of the handvo you are making.

Flip it gently with a spatula and cover cook until another side turns golden brown, for around 3-4 minutes.

Your handvo is ready to snack on with a chutney or pickle of your choice.