Surti locho
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
A soft, loose steamed chana dal batter served hot with butter, spice powder, sev and green chutney.
Region: Surat, GujaratOccasion: BreakfastTime: 40 min + soaking and fermentingServes: 4Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal
- 2 tbsp urad dal
- 2 tbsp thick poha (flattened rice)
- 1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
- ½ tsp turmeric
- A pinch of hing
- ½ tsp soda
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- To serve: butter, locho masala (red chilli powder, black pepper, black salt), sev, chopped onion, coriander, green chutney
Method
- Soak the dals for 5–6 hours and the poha for 10 minutes. Grind together into a coarse batter.
- Leave covered for 6–8 hours to ferment slightly.
- Add the ginger-chilli paste, turmeric, hing, salt, oil and soda and mix well; the batter should be loose.
- Pour into a greased plate and steam for 15–18 minutes. It should stay soft and slightly gooey.
- Scoop onto plates while hot, top with butter, locho masala, sev, onion and coriander, and serve with green chutney.
History
Surat folk tales say locho was born when a batch of khaman did not set properly ('locho' means a mess-up in Gujarati), but its exact origin is not recorded.
Significance
Surat is known for its love of food, and locho is the city's signature breakfast, eaten nowhere else in quite the same way.