Nylon Khaman
Nylon Khaman
Nylon Khaman is a Gujarati savory dish that is spongy, light and moist. It has a well balanced salty, sweet and sour taste along with some spiciness of green chilies. It is a steamed dish and it requires very few ingredients. Measuring the perfect amount of ingredients is the key to success of Nylon Khman. Nylon khaman are so called, probably, because they are as light as nylon. lolz!The popularity of Nylon khaman has crossed the boundaries of Gujarat and India. It is often erroneously mixed up with dhokla. Khaman and dhokla look similar as they both are made of gram flour and the process of making is the same. However, these two dishes are completely different in terms of taste and texture. Where the Nylon khaman is light, airy, moist and does not use many taste enhancers in the batter apart from salt; dhokla is dense, comparatively dry and uses more taste enhancers such as ginger and garlic. The biggest difference between the two is that Nylon khaman is soaked in sugar syrup, where as dhokla is not. All the women out there who have tried making Nylon Khaman will agree on one statement, "It is not easy to make Nylon Khaman as perfect as a halvai (a professional sweet or savoury maker)". If something goes wrong in the process of making, Nylon khaman may not get the soft, spongy and airy texture. In addition, it can also feel too soggy or too dry and can choke in the throat. But do not worry ladies. I have managed to master this dish after a lot of failures and each failure taught me a lesson which brought me closer to perfection. This recipe is a reflection of my learning and has the minutest details required to achieve success at first go.So let's get started!
Equipment
- Double boiler or steamer : It is a pot that is usually wide where you can put water at the bottom and a plate over the water surface. The water forms a lot of steam when heated up at the bottom. The cover of the pot refrains the steam from escaping and thereby helping the food to get cooked. Steamer pots specially designed for this purpose are easily available in the market. You can also make one of your own just by using a pot that is big enough to fit the plat you wish to put inside, provided that there is a lid that can perfectly fit on the pot. You can cover the lid with a thick kitchen towel in order to sit tightly on the pot so as to hold the air inside it.
- Kitchen scale: It is a must for the recipes that requires accurate measurements. However, I have also mentioned the measurements using the standard measuring cups and spoons which is also very close to accuracy.
- Khaman plate : Usually a khaman plate has tall brims like that of a cake tin in order to give the batter enough space to rise and to get the end product in good shape. (See the picture in step 3 of Preparation. You can also use a metal baking tray or a cake tin provided that it is big/small enough to hold the batter till 3/4 level – square, rectangle or round, it doesn't really matter.
- Tadka pan: Tadka pan is a small bowl with a handle. Its design is very convenient to prepare tadka and pour it over a dish. If you do not have a tadka pan, you can use any small pot or a pan so long as you have a tongue to hold it when it is hot.
Ingredients
- 100 gr gram flour (1 Standard measuring cup) Use the very fine variety that is called besan
- 3.5 gr cytric acid (almost 1 tsp) known as 'limbu na ful' in lay man's language
- 5 gr salt(1 tsp)
- 20 gr sugar (4 tsp) white sugar is preferred over brown in order to maintain colour.
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder use even lesser than that or totally skip it.
- 2 gr soda bi carb (1/2 tsp) also called baking soda
- 125 + 25 ml water 125 ml to directly add in the batter and 25 ml to mix with soda bi carb.
Ingredients for Sugar Syrup
- 40-50 gr sugar white sugar is preferred over brown in order to maintain colour.
- 100 ml water
Ingredients for tadka (seasoning)
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 5-10 pieces green chilies chopped
Ingredients to garnish
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp grated coconut
Instructions
Preparation
- Measure all the ingredients perfectly.
- Prepare a steamer – add about 250 ml water in a wide pot, place a plate supporter at the bottom, cover and set it to heat up on low flame. Note that the water in the steamer must not be too little to last till the end of the cooking process; nor should it be so much that the heavy boil makes water get into the khaman plate.
- Brush khaman plate with oil.
Making of Nylon Khaman
- Sift gram flour.
- Add the turmeric powder, salt, sugar and cytric acid in the flour. Combine well.
- Add a little water at a time while combining with your hands till no grains of sugar or cytric acid are felt. Use up all 125ml water (Adding only a little water at a time is very important to avoid formation of lumps)
- Keep stirring the batter till you get nice and smooth texture of the batter.
- By now the steamer should be ready. Add 25 ml water in the soda bi carb, mix a bit (no need to wait till it forms bubbles) and pour it into the batter.
- Mix the batter lightly all around. Do not be too harsh or else the air bubbles will break. But you need to mix it well enough to fill more air and combine soda evenly in the batter. The batter will look light coloured and foamy/frothy.
- When the batter is ready, pour it into the plate evenly and place the plate in the steamer.
- Quickly cover the steamer and cook on medium flame for 20 min.
- Do the knife test. If the knife comes out clean, it's ready. Take the plate out of steamer and let it cool for another 20 min.
- When the khaman plate cools down, cut them into squares and release them from the sides as well by running the knife around the plate.
- See how spongy and airy it is ! Hold on for a while to enjoy the perfect beauty of khaman and take pride in it before you go ahead with the recipe.
- Gently take out all the pieces in a serving plate. It is preferred that the spongy side of khaman is placed facing upwards. This will allow the sugar water to get absorbed better.
Sugar syrup
- Bring 100ml water to bubble boil. Turn off the flame and then add sugar in it. The sugar will get dissolved in a few seconds.
- Pour/sprinkle this water over khaman evenly while it is still hot.
Tadka
- Heat up 2-3 tbsp oil in a tadka pan. Turn off the flame once oil almost reaches at smoking point. Add mustard seeds into it and wait till they crackle.
- Then add chopped green chilies and wait for a second or two.
- Pour this hot tadka all over khaman evenly.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated fresh coconut.
Notes
Tip:1. the plate should be as small as can fill the batter till the 3/4. Khaman has to be tall in height in order to be able to see the netty texture.
2. Allow them to cool completely before cutting in order to get neat pieces. Cutting while they are still hot will not only make it difficult to cut, but also break the air bubbles formed.
3. Sprinkle sugar water on after cutting and removing dhokla from the plate. Sprinkle it over the netty side in order for them to absorb water right away. 4.Do not use coarse or regular chana flour. Use besan (i.e. very finely milled chana flour). 5. Cook on medium flame. If the flame is low, it will not form enough heat to help khaman rise well. If the flame is high, the water will burn out and there are chances that the boiling water rises upto the tray and gets inside khaman. 6. In case you feel, while the khaman is being cooked, that the water in the steamer is too little to last till the end and that you need to add more, do not do so atleast in the first 10-15 min. This is the duration when the khaman rises. If you reduce the temperature of the steamer by adding water during this time, the rising process will get disturbed and the khaman will be flat. 7. When you happen to add more water after first 15 min., quickly do so and close the lid. Rise the flame to the highest and then bring it down to medium.
2. Allow them to cool completely before cutting in order to get neat pieces. Cutting while they are still hot will not only make it difficult to cut, but also break the air bubbles formed.
3. Sprinkle sugar water on after cutting and removing dhokla from the plate. Sprinkle it over the netty side in order for them to absorb water right away. 4.Do not use coarse or regular chana flour. Use besan (i.e. very finely milled chana flour). 5. Cook on medium flame. If the flame is low, it will not form enough heat to help khaman rise well. If the flame is high, the water will burn out and there are chances that the boiling water rises upto the tray and gets inside khaman. 6. In case you feel, while the khaman is being cooked, that the water in the steamer is too little to last till the end and that you need to add more, do not do so atleast in the first 10-15 min. This is the duration when the khaman rises. If you reduce the temperature of the steamer by adding water during this time, the rising process will get disturbed and the khaman will be flat. 7. When you happen to add more water after first 15 min., quickly do so and close the lid. Rise the flame to the highest and then bring it down to medium.