Several years back I had shared the recipe for Handvo, made the traditional way. Today I am sharing the easier and faster version made with semolina. It is just as healthy and delicious and takes way less time than the traditional one. It is one of the healthiest recipe to enjoy for breakfast or to snack and enjoy with tea.
Simply put, it is a healthy and savoury, eggless semolina cake with goodness of veggies and some wonderful spices. Serve it with green chutney or coconut chutney.
For Batter
1 Cup Semolina
2 tbsp Rice Flour
1 tbsp Besan (Chickpea Flour)
½ Cup sour Yogurt
1 small Onion (finely chopped)
2 tsp finely chopped Adrak (Root Ginger)
1 tbsp Green Chili paste
Salt to taste (¾ tsp is what I used)
½ tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Lemon juice (to be used only if the yogurt is not sour)
150 – 175 ml Water (as required, the batter should not be too thick)
Veggies
½ Cup shredded Bottle Gourd (or Courgettes)
½ Cup shredded Carrots
2 tbsp Green Peas (fresh or frozen)
3 tbsp finely chopped French Beans
3 tbsp Fresh Coriander
¼ heaped tsp Baking Soda
Tempering
3 tbsp Oil
2 – 3 Whole Red Chilies (broken in bite size pieces)
2 tsp Mustard Seeds
¼ tsp Hing / Heeng (Asafoetida)
3 tbsp Sesame Seeds (I used both black and white)
2 sprigs Curry Leaves
Whisk together the semolina, rice flour, besan, salt, turmeric. Now add yogurt, 150 ml of water and lemon juice (only if your yogurt is not sour). Whisk well and add onion, ginger, chili paste and mix everything well and set aside for 45 minutes.
Line a 10’x4’ inch loaf pan (you can also use a 9 inch round pan) with parchment paper or butter paper and grease it with oil or butter. Set aside.
Heat oil in a small saucepan on medium heat. Reduce heat and add whole red chilies and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds just about begin to crackle, add hing and sesame seeds. Stir around the contents (be careful since the seeds will splutter). Keep the heat to minimum else the sesame seeds will burn. Once the sesame seeds become aromatic, add curry leaves and sauté the contents for a few seconds. Remove from heat and set the pan aside.
Add everything under veggies category, to the batter, except baking soda. Take the baking soda in a small bowl and add two teaspoons of water, stir it well and add it to the batter. Stir the batter to mix it through. Also add the tempering (you can retain a part of the tempering to drizzle over the batter before keeping it for baking) and mix it into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake it for 30 – 40 minutes or till the skewer inserted in the centre of the pan comes out clean.
Rest the handvo for 10 – 15 minutes and then run a knife around the edges of the pan and de-mould the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature along with the beverage of your choice. Enjoy!
Yield – 10 to 12 slices (depending on the thickness)
Thank you so much for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe!
That looks not only yummy, also very pretty. Love that seedy topping.
Thank you Angie 🙂
Oh yes! Those sesame seeds add so much flavour.
So delicious, healthy, and gorgeous!
Thank you Natasha 🙂
What an interesting savory cake! Sounds so tasty!
Thanks Laura 🙂
What a stunning cake! I love savoury baked things probably even more than sweet ones, so this is right up my alley. Really great combination of flavours here.
Thank you so much Ben. Savoury bakes are my favourite thing too! I am sure you will enjoy this cake 🙂
This looks terrific! Really pretty, wonderful flavors. Such a nice recipe — thanks.