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Saturday, April 14, 2018

A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ L for Locho / Surti Locho

The first time I heard about 'locho' was on a Gujarati TV cook show that I used to watch religiously until a few years ago. I had bookmarked that recipe and had tried it a couple of times. Locho is a steamed dish that is served as a snack in Gujarat and as the title indicates, it originated in Surat city. It is prepared with ground lentil batter that is steamed and served with a drizzling of oil, sev, chutney and green chillies on the side. This dish is quite filling, healthy and guilt free. It makes a great brunch / meal time dish.

Locho batter does not any fermenting. However the dals need soaking and so at least 2 hours advance planning is required. Locho has irregular shape unlike dhokla / khaman and do not come in regular cut pieces. I added water generously while grinding the batter when I made locho for the first time and even 2 hours of steaming would not let the locho to set. I learnt my lesson that day and prefer making a thick batter now. And so, I end up with a firm shaped locho that could be cut into pieces. I paired it with Vaishali's peanut chutney, where peanuts are added to the regular green chutney which makes a flavorful variation.

Ingredients for locho:
1 cup split chickpeas / Bengal gram / chana dal
A handful split & skinned black gram / urad dal
A handful beaten rice flakes / poha
2 spicy green chillies
1-inch piece ginger
Salt to taste
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
2 – 3 pinches of asafetida
¼ cup ground nut oil
1 Eno sachet
Crushed black pepper as required
Sev* to garnish

* Sev - Deep fried, crisp chickpea flour vermicelli available in any Indian grocery store.

Preparation of locho:
* Wash the dals and poha together for about 3 hours. Drain and grind them along with ginger, chillies and salt into a fine batter with as little water as possible. (I used my food processor to grind and added about a tbsp. or two of water.) Transfer the ground batter to a bowl. Add turmeric, asafoetida and 2 tbsp. of oil to the batter and mix well.
* Heat a steamer or dhokla maker with water.
* Grease the dhokla plates or the container used to steam the locho. When ready to steam, add Eno to the batter and stir well. Fill the greased dhokla plates / container with batter. (If using plates, fill upto ¾ th.) Sprinkle crushed black pepper uniformly. (Some sprinkle red chilli powder too.)
* Place the dhokla plates / container in the steamer. Steam them on low flame until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean. It may take about 20 minutes. Turn off the stove and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
 
Ingredients for peanut chutney:
¼ cup toasted and skinned peanuts
1 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves
1 or 2 spicy green chillies
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Preparation of chutney:
Add everything in the list above to a mixer / food processor. Add as much water as needed to facilitate grinding and grind finely. Refer to the chutney in the pictures above to determine how much quantity of water should be added for chutney making. 
How to serve locho:
* Remove the steamed locho container from the steamer. Drizzle with some oil over the top.
* Next, one can try either running a sharp spoon / knife around the edges, unmould the locho and cut into shapes.
Or with a spatula remove about 3-inch sized pieces. (The shape doesn't matter actually in case of locho and so no pressure in getting it right.)
* Arrange some locho pieces on a serving plate. Top with sev generously.
Serve with peanut chutney and green chillies on the side.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 

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Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87

17 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Locho sounds almost like the popular dhokla, and those slices of locho with that chutney looks ultimate and droolworthy.

Harini R said...

That is a fantastic find, Suma. We love dhokla at home and so this should be a good variation as well.

Sandhiya said...

Locho looks awesome and a guilt free snack to have with evening tea. It must be delicious with those peanut green chutney . The entire looks so inviting,Suma.

Gayathri Kumar said...

This is new dish to me and it looks so amazing. Love the fact that it is steamed and love those delicious toppings. Yum..

Srividhya said...

One more locho recipe. You guyz are great in finding unique and interesting recipes. Love that picture with sev and chutney. Drooling here.

Pavani said...

That is such a yummy looking breakfast/ snack. Steaming these sounds so healthy too. This is one protein packed dish. Good share Suma.

Sharmila kingsly said...

Steaming version is very healthy compared to deep fried ones.. Such a protien pack street food!!

Kalyani said...

I had made this, however the pics were lost.. So, opted for another one. Your version is similar to mine, thats a good idea to steam it in a steel dabba (it gives the necessary height). I made it in a dhokla steamer and wasnt very happy with the height.. the peanut chutney is the highlight, right ??

Unknown said...

locho looks fabulous suma , am big fan of gujrati farsan and this so similar to dhokla .. perfect healthy street food !! What a wonderful idea of steaming the dhoklas in steel box..

vaishali sabnani said...

I was always fascinated by Locho and wanted to travel to Surat to eat it , till somebody told me that we had one sole cart in Ahemedabad too ! And I can see from pics that this Locho is any day better than what is available on the streets . But I must tell you that we have many more vendors selling this and now they have a fusion Locho ! Italian / Mexican Locho . Lol !

Srivalli said...

Ever since I came to know about Locho I have been wanting to make it..your pictures are so tempting me...will surely remember abt the batter part..:)

Mayuri Patel said...

I love this delicious snack. Love how you've served it with lots of chutney. my neighbor loves making it and always sends some over to my place. That's why I've not bothered making it myself.

Priya Srinivasan - I Camp in My Kitchen said...

Wow that is a wonderful find Suma! The sev topped locho looks so tempting! Pairing it with peanut chutney sounds yum!!

Padmajha said...

I am a huge fan of dhokla and I am sure I will love this one too. Beautiful and tempting clicks Suma.

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said...

Lovely protein packed snack this is. Love this different non fermented version of the dhoklas and I would love to make the steamed snacks as it is definitely healthier.

cookingwithsapana said...

At first I thought it was dhokla with chutney but I guess it is slightly different. Bookmaking to try soon.

preeti garg said...

Protein rich and flavorful recipe.. Love it