Sev Khamani is a delicious Gujarati street food snack made with chana dal and a spicy green chilli tempering. Soft and fluffy khaman is topped with crunchy sev, pomegranate and coconut. It's bursting with the classic Surti tangy & spicy flavours.
A multi-sensory eating experience that'll be ready within 30 minutes hands on time!
Note – This recipe has been updated from the archives – first published June 2013. I’ve added new images and helpful content, with recipe changes (highlighted below).
"Surti" means from Surat, a place within the state of Gujarat and if you love Gujarati food, you've probably heard of Surti undhiyu too.
Sev khamani is a little bit like dhokla chaat, except here, the dhokla are crumbled.
The base of sev khamani is the crumbled khaman that has been cooked in tempered green chilli water. It's topped street style with a shower of thin sev, pomegranate, coriander and shredded coconut. I've seen variations that also add a sprinkle of chaat masala too.
My Mum first posted this recipe in 2013, and then she made the khaman cake first, whereas I've since adapted that recipe to the more traditional method. More on the differences below.
Now this recipe isn't particularly technical, but good sev khamani should have a soft and fluffy base.
There are two ways to make sev khamani
The ingredients are pretty much the same, but the techniques change. It's down to preference which method you prefer.
- Soak and grind chana ni dal, steam it like khaman or dhokla to make a "cake". Let it cool, then crumble the cake, cook in the tempering and add the toppings.
- Cook the chana ni dal mixture directly in a pan until it thickens to become soft and fluffy. Then add the tempering and toppings as usual.
We've made this recipe both ways. I've found that both yield good fluffy results and the textures are pretty similar. Timing wise, I would say that both are similar too. Steaming the cake is less hands on, but takes longer to cool before crumbling. Cooking the mixture in the pan has more hands on time but you don't have to wait for cooling.
Recipe details & Ingredients notes
Be sure to check out the full recipe and exact ingredient list below in the recipe card.
The khamani for sev khamani is made with Chana ni dal (split bengal gram) rather than nylon khaman which are made with gram flour.
The chana ni daal needs soaking and then grinding to a medium coarse paste. To it, you add turmeric for colour, sugar for sweetness and eno. The eno helps with the fluffiness. I you don't have it, use baking soda and citric acid.
The tempering is a pretty standard tempering you find in Gujarati cooking. I start with oil, add mustard seeds, ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies and sesame seeds.
The toppings I use are nylon sev (I buy mine), finely chopped coriander, pomegranate seeds and shredded coconut. Looking at YouTube videos of sev khamani that is sold on the streets of Surat, these ingredients are pretty accurate.
Serve sev khamani with green coriander chutney, Rajkot ni green chutney or a steaming cup of masala chai.
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📖 Recipe
Surti Sev Khamani
Ingredients
Batter
- 1 cup chana dal
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon eno
- salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon hing
- 5 tablespoon oil
- 4 tablespoon sugar
Vaghar (Tempering)
- 3 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 3 green chillies chopped
- 2 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Toppings
- sev
- kothmir coriander leaves
- fresh grated coconut optional
- pomegranate
Instructions
- Clean and wash chana dal in clean running water, then soak in fresh water over night or at least 4-6 hours.
- Drain the water and wash chana dal once gain in clean water.
- Add soaked dal in a grinder jar with ¼ cup water. Use pulse mode to grind the dal to a coarse paste. Make sure ground batter should be not chunky but not fine either. The batter consistency should be just like pancake batter. Pourable but not runny.
- Transfer in a bowl and cover with a lid and set aside for minimum half an hour.
- Add salt, turmeric, hing and eno to the batter and mix well.
- Heat 5 tablespoon oil in a heavy based pan/kadai, add ground dal mixture and stir well. Keep the heat low and cook, keep stirring continuously to prevent sticking and to avoid lumps.
- You may find that dal sticks to the pan, but not to worry, keep scraping and stirring. This step will take around 20 minutes.
- Once dal mixture comes together, cover the pan with a lid and cook another 5-6 minutes on low heat.
- Then stir the dal mixture again and sprinkle some water (2-3 tablespoon) and again cover the pan with a lid and cook the dal for 3-4 minutes.
- At this stage you will see dal becoming fluffy. For test take a pea size mixture and try to make a ball with it. If it doesn't stick to your fingers and rolls easily, the mixture is cooked.
- Add sugar and mix well.
- In a small pan heat oil, add mustard seeds and allow to crackle. Then add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and sesame seeds. Cook for 30-40 seconds then add ¼ cup water. Bring it to a boil.
- Pour the vaghar on cooked dal/khaman and mix well.
- Sprinkle over fresh coriander leaves, fresh coconut and pomegranate arils and mix. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle sev on top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
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Hayley Dhanecha says
I grew up eating this at home and this recipe takes me straight back, the spicy green chilli tempering poured over the soft khaman base is absolutely the key to getting those classic Surti flavours just right.
Simplyfood says
This looks delicious and microwave method too.
Gujarati Zaika says
Delicious....one of my favorite ....
Javelin Warrior says
Wow, this has so many flavors and textures! I love the complexity and textural components of the dish, especially the cashews and pomegranate seeds...
great-secret-of-life says
this is new chat item.. Tempting for me
Anonymous says
Simple and tum.. this is a dhokla chaat.. all you need to do is to add a little chaat masala.
Home Cooked food says
My favorite. I am also making this. Gujju blog can not be done without gujju farsan.
Rashida Shaikh says
Hi dear,
Those pomegranates are looking like pearl enhancing the beauty to whole bowl, love the clicks.
Have a good day ahead!
Shama Nagarajan says
too tempting dear
Hamaree Rasoi says
Delicious and healthy recipe. Excellent preparation
Deepa
Divya Shivaraman says
something that is totally new to me...loved the clicks and the recipe