West Indian
Handvo (Savory Fermented Rice-Lentil-Vegetable Cake)
Handvo (Savory Fermented Rice-Lentil-Vegetable Cake) is West Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 1/2 cup mixed lentils (chana dal, toor dal, urad dal)
- 1.5 cups grated bottle gourd
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp ginger-green chili paste
- 1 tsp eno fruit salt
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Soak the rice and mixed lentils together for at least 4 hours, then drain and grind them to a slightly coarse batter with a little water.
- Cover the batter and let it ferment in a warm spot for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight, until it smells pleasantly tangy.
- Stir the grated bottle gourd, turmeric, chili powder, ginger-green chili paste, and salt into the fermented batter.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan and let the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, and curry leaves sizzle, then fold the tempering into the batter along with the eno just before baking.
- Pour the batter into a greased baking dish, sprinkle extra sesame seeds on top, and bake at 180C (350F) for 35 to 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top is golden.
- Cool slightly, cut into squares, and serve warm with green chutney.
Serve it with
A West Indian breakfast is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Handvo (Savory Fermented Rice-Lentil-Vegetable Cake), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
-
The sharp little thing
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Handvo (Savory Fermented Rice-Lentil-Vegetable Cake) carries sesame. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | Yes | Akoori (Parsi Spiced Scrambled Eggs) |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Grains, Pulses, and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Handvo (Savory Fermented Rice-Lentil-Vegetable Cake) takes about 60 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a proper project. It is eaten at breakfast. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Until then this is one still image, which is why the page opens as quickly as it does.
-
Gujarati Handvo Recipe | Healthy Naashta Recipe | เคเฅเคเคฐเคพเคคเฅ เคนเคพเคเคกเคตเฅ เคฌเคจเคพเคจเฅ เคเคพ เคคเคฐเฅเคเฅ | Chef Sanjyot Keer
Play the video
-
Instant Handvo Recipe - เชเชจเซเชธเซเชเชจเซเช เชนเชพเชเชกเชตเซ | Gujarati Handvo Without Fermentation | Healthy Handvo
Play the video
More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on rice, lentil, and bottle gourd.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from West India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.