Khaman

Directions

1. 1
   Wash and soak both the dals overnight or at least 7 to 8 hours.
2. 2
   Drain out the water from the dals and add the yogurt and dals to a mixer grinder , add the 1/4 cup of water also.
3. 3
   Now, take out the mixture and add in the chickpea flour, turmeric, salt , one teaspoon of sugar and keep it to ferment for some hours or preferably overnight. Keep it in a warm place like oven or microwave to ferment.
4. 4
   Just before making the dumplings , add in the ginger-chili paste, lemon juice, oil and soda bicarbonate. Mix well. Do not over mix it. we want a smooth batter.
5. 5
   Now, keep a pressure cooker or a steamer ready filled in with water on stove to start the steaming process. We will need to keep a small pot on which we are going to place our dish with the batter. We do not want the steaming water to get in the batter. Grease a dish with good high edges with some oil.
6. 6
   Pour in the mixture into the greased dish half up, as the dumplings would rise. we need to allow it to rise so that we are using a high edged dish. Cover it with pressure cooker top or the steaming vessel cover. And, cook it for about 20 minutes on high flame.
7. 7
   Side by side , for the seasoning. Take a pan, add the oil let it heat up , add up the mustard seeds, asafoetida and let them crackle. Once the seeds crackle , add the green chilies slits and sesame seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, 4 tablespoons of water .
8. 8
   Once the dumplings are done after 20 minutes, keep them for about 10 minutes to cool off properly before cutting them into pieces. Once cooled off , cut the dumplings into 1 inch squares. Arrange them in a dish side by side.
9. 9
   Sprinkle the seasoning on top of each dumpling to coat them with the seasoning. Sprinkle the grated coconut and the chopped cilantro. Serve it with green mint-cilantro chutney. For parties, arrange each dumpling on chutney with toothpicks.
10. 10
    For variation , I add spinach to the batter and it gives it a nice green color and taste of spinach. You can also, add pea puree to the batter .