Dal chokha no lot, or “handvo flour,” is a blend of rice and dal ground into a flour mixture. Handvo flour is used for handvo, dudhi no muthiya, dangela, and other Gujarati dishes.
Traditional handvo is made by soaking the rice and dal overnight, grinding them, then letting them ferment another 8-12 hours. This whole time-consuming two-night step can be skipped by using handvo flour. Using handvo flour and a little eno (or baking powder) makes it more of an instant handvo.
You can buy handvo flour from the Indian store, or you can make your own blend. You might want to customize your blend, adding more lentils than rice or more rice than lentils. The blend I use most often, as I suggest here, is one-to-one.
My Grandma’s mixture was 2 parts rice to one part dal. This is likely very close to what the store-bought blends would be. These days, many people like to have double the dal than rice since dal is high in protein and many people consider it healthier.
Ingredients
Rice – I typically use Basmati rice because that is what I have on hand. Growing up, basmati rice was not my everyday rice. We used Krishna Kamod, which is a shorter-grained rice. Any rice will do, even brown rice.
Chana Dal – optional; gives it some flavor. Use extra moong dal if you don’t have it on hand.
Moong Dal – the main dal for the handvo that my family makes. Many other families use tuvar (toor).
Urad Dal – adds a softness to your handvo. If you don’t have it, you can replace it with any other dal.
You do not have to stick to this mixture of dal. If you only have tuvar (toor) dal or moong dal on hand, it’s okay; just use half rice, half moong.
Cooking Tips
Grind the Rice and Dal Separately
It is recommended that you always grind the rice and dal separately because that gives you more control over the texture. In theory, rice and dal need different grinds since the rice should be coarser. I do it separately because I was taught to do it that way, but I have done it together, and it doesn’t make a noticeable difference.
Quinoa Handvo
- You can replace the rice with quinoa. Make sure to use pre-rinsed quinoa so that the bitter saponins are washed off, so it won’t make your flour bitter.
Storage
Handvo flour stores well in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 months. You can also store it in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Recipe
Handvo Flour | Dal Chokha no Lot
Equipment
- Strong blender or spice grinder
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- ½ cup moong dal
- ¼ cup urad dal
- ¼ cup chana dal
Instructions
- In a powerful blender, food processor, or coffee grinder, grind 1 cup of rice to a coarse powder. Remove from the blender into a mixing bowl.
- Grind the moong, urad, and chana dal to a powder. Pour the flour into the mixing bowl.
- Whisk or stir to combine.