Vegetable Spiced Cake Handvo

Handvo is a vegetable cake, which is a part of the Gujarati cuisine.

Vegetable Baked Handvo

This Vegetable Cake is usually made with a bottle guard filling. Serve Handvo at room temperature.

The yellowish-green bottle guard is a vine grown for its fruit. It is common to Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China, tropical Africa and South America. Locally grown varieties have locally bestowed names such as lauki, doodhi, ghia etc.

Bottle guard is rich in dietary fibre, which provides relief from constipation and/or flatulence.

Want to lose weight?

Use Doodhi.

Why ?

As it is low in fat and cholesterol content while being rich in vitamins and minerals. It is also 96% water. According to Ayurveda, lauki is helpful in cases of Liver malfunction or diabetes. It is easy to digest and rich in nutrients.

Handvo with the bottle guard filling and green chutney is a famous delicacy of Gujarat.

Savoury Cake Handvo

To make Handvo traditionally there is a special pot or a cooker. However, since I do not have the traditional cooker I have used a thick bottom pan effectively.

Although most recipes mention a bottle guard filling, feel free to add vegetables and pulses of your choice. You may also add crushed peanuts if you wish!

As a part of #Cooking Carnival where my theme is Simple and Healthy Vegetarian Diet in Old Age this is my breakfast item for the second day. It can be served as a snack or like my husband a made it was his meal.

Bottle Gourd Handvo

Healthy Handvo, a Mixed Dal Spicy Lentil Cake

Handvo is a vegetable cake, which is a part of the Gujarati cuisine. It is usually made with a bottle guard filling.

• Preparation time: 315 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 345 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For Soaking:

• 1 cup Rice
• ½ cup Toor dal/Split Pigeon Pea
• ¼ cup Dhuli moong Dal/Split green gram skinless
• ¼ cup Urid dal/ split black gram
• ½ cup Khatta Dhai /sour yoghurt
• 4 tablespoons Oil
• ½ teaspoons Ginger, garlic and chilli paste
• 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder (adjust as per taste)
• Salt to taste
• 2 cups Doodhi/bottle gourd
• ¼   teaspoon Baking Powder

For Tempering:

• 1 tablespoon Oil
• ½ teaspoon rai/mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon Haldi/ turmeric powder
• A pinch of Hing/asafoetida
• A few curry leaves
• 2 Red chillies, broken
• ½ teaspoon Til/ sesame seeds

Method:

Soaking:

• Drain and grind the soaked rice and dals. Grind coarsely with a little water.
• Transfer to a deep bowl beat and add the sour curd and 1 Tablespoon oil.
• Whisk, add some water and bring it to the idli batter consistency.
• Cover and set aside to ferment overnight.
• In the morning, add the garlic, ginger and chilli paste, the grated bottle gourd, haldi, chilli powder, salt.
• Add the tempering to the batter. Mix the well in the batter.
• Now you can make it on the stove top as well as bake it.

For the Stove Top Method:

• Heat a greased non-stick pan on medium flame.
• Add a ladleful of the batter in a small circle. Do not spread much.
• Cover and cook till the bottom is flecked with brown spots.
• Flip and cook on the other side till done.
• Cut in wedges and serve.

For Baking:

• Grease a 5-inch mould with oil and maida.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes till the crust is golden brown or until the skewer inserted in the Handvo comes out clean.
• Transfer to a wire rack and turn over after 10 minutes.
• Cut in wedges and serve.