Baked Millet Handvo

This is millet and mixed dal handvo with veggies. This baked version of the traditional handvo, a Gujarati classic, is a tasty and healthy snack that could be a meal as well. Vegan yogurt can be used to make vegan millet handvo.

Handvo is a traditional fermented savory rice and dal cake and veggies can also be added to it. Though it is made on a pan, it can be baked too. Rice and dal are soaked, ground with a little yogurt and water, fermented, seasoned, and cooked into a savory cake. 

The flavors of the handvo are more similar to the South Indian adai, a spicy and crisp pancake made with rice and dal. We describe handvo as the cake version of adai. It is flavorful and you can even make a waffle with handvo batter. Since we add coconut to adai, I have added coconut to this handvo too.

This baked version of handvo uses millet instead of rice. Broken little millet or rava is used in this recipe. If you have the whole millet, soak for 3-4 hours and grind to a coarse texture and use in the recipe. Little millet (aka samai) is used in this recipe, though any millet can be used interchangeably . Millets are healthy and provide a spectrum of nutrients. If you like this millet recipe, try these millet recipes from the blog. 

Mixed dals like toor dal, Chana dal, urad, moons dal, orange lentils are used in this recipe. The nutrition from these pulses along with millets make this a wholesome snack/meal. Coconut also adds to the nutrition.

When making handvo, make sure to grease the baking dish or pan generously with oil. This helps in easy release of the handvo cubes. The batter should also be the right consistency, neither thick nor thin, but just right. 

Any veggies like doodhi or opo, zucchini, carrots, cabbage can be used. Shred the veggies and add to the batter, pour the seasoning, and bake. Spinach can also be used. Herbs like Methi or cilantro can be used. 

This is a fermented version. It also has yogurt. Vegan yogurt can also be used. If you are in a hurry, and do not have time to ferment, add a little citric acid, lemon juice, and/or sour yogurt along with baking soda to the batter. Alternatively, Eno, a fruity salt can be used that would help make instant handvo or dhokla.