When the hubby is travelling on a Sunday, sonny boy has a mixed bag of sadness and the grumps together. How about serving him a dish that’s a combination of Gujarati and Italian cuisine? You heard that right! Here, I present Dhokla Bruschetta.

Ingredients:
- Besan / chickpea flour, 2 cups, sifted using a sieve
- Citric acid, 1 tsp
- Water, 1.5 cups, to be used in three batches
- Ginger and green chilli paste, 1 tsp
- Asafoetida / heeng, 2 pinches
- Turmeric powder / haldi, 1/2 teaspoon
- Baking soda, 1 tsp
- Powdered sugar, 4 tbsp
- Oil, 2 tbsp
- Salt, to taste
Method:
- To the sifted besan add the citric acid, ginger green chili paste, heeng, haldi, salt and the powdered sugar
- Now add half cup of water to the besan mixture and whisk well making sure that there are no lumps remaining
- Add another half cup of water and once again whisk until the texture is smooth
- Finally, add another half cup of water and whisk vigorously in one direction for at least 3-4 minutes until the batter is light, pale and fluffy
- Add oil to the batter and mix well and then keep it aside for 10 minutes
- In the meanwhile, heat water in the pan in which you will place the dish containing the dhokla batter, and grease that dish too.
- Add baking soda to the batter; mix well
- Transfer the batter to the tin/dis, place it in the pan with boiling water, cover and steam for 20-25 minutes.
- Check using a toothpick; if a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your dhokla is ready.
Ingredients for the topping:
- Chopped bell peppers, all 3 colours, ½ cup
- Onion, ¼ cup, chopped
- Tomatoes, ¼ cup, chopped
- Olive oil, ½ tsp, chopped
- Garlic, 3 -4 pods, chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Mixed herbs, ½ tsp
- Oregano, ½ tsp
Method:
- In a pan add olive oil
- Immediately add the garlic, then add the onions, bell peppers and tomatoes, stirring for a minute before adding each ingredient
- Add all the seasonings and cook on high flame for a minute
Final Assembly:
- Slice the dhoklas and spread the toppings on them.
- Bake at 1600 Celsius for 8-10 minutes in a pre-heated oven using top heating rods only
- Serve hot.
Notes:
- You’ll need a dish in which to steam the dhokla and a pan big enough to hold that dish and some water for the steam. Choose both carefully.
- Optionally, mozzarella or other cheese can be added as a topping too.