West Indian
Khaman (Steamed Besan Sponge)
Khaman (Steamed Besan Sponge) is West Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the condiment. 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
- 1.5 cups besan
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.5 tsp eno fruit salt
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 green chilies
- 8 curry leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 3/4 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Whisk the besan with water, turmeric, sugar, lemon juice, and salt into a smooth, lump-free batter.
- Grease a steaming tin and heat your steamer with water on high.
- Stir the eno into the batter until it turns light and frothy, then immediately pour it into the greased tin.
- Steam the batter for 15 to 18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, then let it cool slightly and cut into squares.
- Heat the oil in a small pan and let the mustard seeds, green chilies, and curry leaves sizzle.
- Pour the tempering evenly over the khaman squares, scatter with cilantro, and serve at room temperature.
Serve it with
A West Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Khaman (Steamed Besan Sponge), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
-
Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Khaman (Steamed Besan Sponge) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| 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 | No | |
| 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
- Light
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Khaman (Steamed Besan Sponge) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on besan.
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.