Handvo
Preparation Time
20 minutes
Cooking Time
37 minutes
Difficulty Level
moderate
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Sona masoori rice
About This Recipe
Handvo is the baked savoury cake of Gujarat, made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils with grated bottle gourd folded in, cooked in a covered pan with oil so the bottom crisps while the top steams. No oven is needed.
This version uses two parts rice to one part chana dal. The dal gives the cake its firm crumb and savoury depth, while the rice keeps it soft and light; curd starts the ferment, and the bottle gourd brings enough moisture that the batter needs no extra water. The tempering of mustard, hing and curry leaves is poured over the top, not stirred in, so it perfumes the surface and leaves the crumb clean.
The batter is ready when it has risen and smells pleasantly sour, usually eight to ten hours in a warm kitchen. A jowar handvo recipe does the same with half the rice swapped for jowar flour. Add a grated carrot with the bottle gourd for colour, or a teaspoon of chilli powder in the batter for heat. Serve it warm, or pack it for the next morning's tiffin; it tastes good at room temperature too.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Soak and grind
- Sona masoori rice — 1 cup
- Chana dal (bengal gram dal) — 1/2 cup
- Water for soaking — 3 cups
- Water for grinding — 1/2 cup
- Curd — 1/2 cup
Batter
- Bottle gourd (doodhi/lauki), grated — 1 cup
- Ginger, grated — 1 tsp
- Green chilli, finely chopped — 1 piece
- Turmeric Powder — 1/2 tsp
- Sesame seeds — 1 tbsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
Tempering
- Groundnut oil (2 tbsp for the pan, 1 tbsp for the tempering) — 3 tbsp
- Mustard Seeds — 1 tsp
- Hing (asafoetida) powder — 1/4 tsp
- Curry leaves (fresh, or a few dried) — 1 sprig
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Serving Suggestions
Serve warm squares with green coriander chutney, a spoon of fresh curd, or nothing but a cup of hot chai. It works as breakfast, an evening snack or a lunchbox filler, and tastes good at room temperature. Leftovers keep up to two days in the fridge; toast the squares in a pan or steam them back to softness.
Tips for Cooking Handvo
Grate the bottle gourd at the last minute and squeeze it only lightly; its water steams the cake. The flame must stay at its lowest once the lid is on, or the bottom burns before the middle cooks. Judge doneness by the sides pulling away and a clean knife, not by the clock alone. Rest the cake in the pan before cutting, or the first square crumbles.
Chef’s Note
The ferment does the heavy lifting: a batter that has risen well gives a light, honeycombed crumb, while an unfermented one bakes into a dense slab. The crisp bottom and the soft top come from the same pan, so do not rush the first fifteen minutes. A square comes to about 368 kcal with 9.6 g of protein from the rice and chana dal.
Per serving (approx.): 368 kcal, protein 9.6 g, carbs 51 g, fat 13 g, fibre 5.5 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 14, 2026
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