Handvo is one of those recipes that never fails to stop people in their tracks the moment they smell it baking. This classic Gujarati savory cake is made with store-bought Handvo flour, a ready blend of rice and lentils that makes the recipe so much more approachable than you would think. Fresh bottle gourd, fenugreek, and carrots add heartiness, while ginger, green chilies, and a crackling tempering of mustard seeds and sesame create that signature golden crust and bold flavor Handvo is famous for. The oven-baked version will always be my first love, but I am also sharing an Instant Pot method for when you want the same incredible flavors in even less time.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Minstry of Curry
I first learned how to make Handvo almost 20 years ago from our nanny, who cooked the most amazing meals for my family. Her recipe was a regular highlight in our home, and I loved it so much that I eventually reached out to her to ensure I could recreate that magic myself. Since then, I've prepared this dish many times, and it has become one of my favorite 'no-fail' recipes. Although there are several components to balance, the process is incredibly rewarding, especially because of the grated bottle gourd, which provides a unique moisture that perfectly balances those signature crisp edges.
This recipe really highlights my deep love for traditional Gujarati snacks; they are so much easier to recreate at home than people think! If you enjoy the savory, spiced flavors of this Handvo, I know you'll also love my soft, steamed Rava Dhokla and my easy Muthia recipes.
How to Bake Handvo in the Oven
(See Recipe Card for Instant Pot Method)
Batter: There are two ways to prep the batter: a traditional soak-and-grind of rice and lentils, or a quicker method using store-bought Handvo (Ondhwa) flour. For this recipe, I'm using the ready-made flour.
Serving
Handvo can be served warm or at room temperature for breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner. I love to pair mine with pickle and ginger tea for breakfast. Handvo can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to a week. I like to cut mine into smaller pieces and then reheat each piece for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave.
★ Tried this recipe? I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and let me know, or snap a quick pic and upload it-I love seeing your creations. If you're on Instagram, tag @ministry_of_curry so I can check it out. Your feedback means so much to me and makes all the time I spend perfecting each recipe totally worth it. Thank you!
Recipe
Authentic Handvo Recipe (Gujarati Savory Cake) - Oven Baked with Instant Pot Option
Equipment
- 1 9" springform cake pan For oven-method
- 1 7 inch Cake Push Pan For Instant Pot method in notes.
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 2½ cups handvo flour
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt or non-dairy yogurt
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1½ cup warm water
Tempering
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoons mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 dried red chilies optional
Vegetables
- 3 cups bottle gourd peeled and grated
- 1 cup carrots peeled and grated
- 1½ cups methi leaves finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
- 4 green chilies minced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- salt to taste
Other Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Mix all dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl and keep in warm place for 6-8 hours.
- Make tempering by heating oil in a small sauce pan. Add mustard seeds and once they start spluttering, turn the heat off, add sesame seeds and dried red chilies.
- Add the lauki, carrots, methi, ginger, green chilies, sugar, turmeric, and salt to the dough. Pour over the tempering and mix well.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking pan by greasing all the sides.
- Add baking soda to the batter and mix well. Pour the batter in the cake pan, I used a spring foam pan but a bundt cake pan or any baking dish works well. Garnish with sesame seeds from part IV on top.
- Bake at 350 F for 30-45 mins, checking after first 25 minutes. For my convection oven it takes exactly 25 mins and then I broil for the last 5 mins to get a crispy browned top.
Notes
Instant Pot Handvo
Since we need a smaller cake pan to make the Handvo in a 6-QT Instant Pot, below are the adjusted ingredient quantities. IngredientsNotes
- Broil in the oven for 5 minutes to get a crispy browned top.
- Instead of using Handvo flour, you can also soak ½ cup of rice and ½ cup of mixed lentils. Grind and then allow the batter to sit for 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Vegetables used in part II can vary - You can substitute zucchini or cabbage for dudhi.
Nutrition
♥ We LOVE to hear from you! Did you try this recipe? Please share your food photo with hashtag #ministryofcurry on Facebook or Instagram, so we can see it and our followers can enjoy it too! Thank you and Happy Cooking
♥ Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for tasty and easy video recipes. Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Check out our delicious Instant Pot Recipe board on Pinterest.
NoPlateLikeHome.com says
Achaea, I used to work in IT also. What was your role? I was a BSA and QA tester. I miss it sometimes but am happy to be home with my little boys. This recipe looks good and healthy.
Archana says
Thank you Joanne! I work as a sustaining engineer supporting process manufacturing software. Love my full time job as well blogging! So glad to have met you, love your blog.
NoPlateLikeHome.com says
Also, your pix are great!
Archana says
Thank you Joanne.
gottaloveridgewood says
Amazing. Will try making it this weekend and let you know how it turned out.
Archana says
Thank you Uma! Would love to know how you like it.
Sandhya says
Excellent detailed recipe and photos Archana! I love handvo too and your pics are making me hungry 🙂
Archana says
Thank you Sandhya!
The City Diary says
Archana, could you please send over some of the leftovers to Pune? 😀 The pictures are very tempting.
I would really love to see you try your hand at Bengali cuisine too, that way I will get to learn and keep the husband happy. 🙂 I tried making aaloo posto today, let's hope everyone likes it.
Archana says
Thank you! Wish I could send some over for you.. I would love to try Bengali cuisine. How did your aloo posto turn out? I am googling that next 🙂 as i am not familiar with lot of Bengali foods.
The City Diary says
My posto turned out fine. Although, I should warn you that it has a peculiar taste that not everyone enjoys, since it contains a lot of khus khus. The online recipes will tell you not to put onions, but here at home we do.
Our recipe:
(Serves 4)
Take 4tbsps khus khus (poppy seeds) and soak them in water for 45 minutes. grind it into a fine paste (better if you do it in silpatta or khalbatta)
Take 3 tbsps mustard oil and heat it on a high temp.
Put paanch fodan and let it pop.
Add 3 cut onions and 4 green chillies, saute till onion becomes red.
Add a little bit of turmeric and salt (I also add a little bit of red chilli, but that's not a part of the real recipe.
Add the potatoes and khus khus paste.
Add half a glass of water and let it cook.
The consistency should be semi dry, serve with plain rice and moong/urad dal; along with aaloo bhaja (i failed in making this, but you can give it a shot).
Archana says
Thank you! Wow your home recipe looks amazing. Can't wait to try it out.
Sudhir Chauhan says
lovely colors...... very tempting.......
Archana says
Thank you Sudhir!
The Cooking Spoon says
I'm pinning this. Sounds so amazing.
Archana says
Thank you!
Foodeva Marsay says
A Delectable Looking treat, yummy
Archana says
Thank you Marriam!
srividhya says
Very nice Archana. This is in my todo list for a long time. Need but that flour. Great share.
Archana says
Vidhya, you can also make this with soaking lentils and rice. No special flour needed.
Antonia says
This looks delicious! Such a colorful and healthy treat!
Archana says
Thank you Antonia! This is one flavor packed recipe.
annika says
I have a very similar recipe... yours looks amazing!
Archana says
Thank you Annika! This is my favorite savory cake.
Khadija "dishdessert" says
I liked your blog, good article, I invite you to my blog:
http://dishdessert.wordpress.com
Archana says
Thank you Khadija!
Bella says
This looks amazing! I will be trying this recipe out this weekend. Do you think I could substitute brown rice and quinoa for some of the white rice (I will be making the batter from scratch). Also would an 8x8 square baking dish work for the quantities listed? Thank you so much ☺️
Archana says
Hi Bella! So excited to hear that you are making this. Yes you can substitute brown rice and quinoa for some rice. Also 8x8 baking dish will be perfect! Let me know!!
Neela says
What kind of cake pan do you recommend?
Non stick, Pyrex or ??
Thx
Archana says
I would recommend a metal/aluminum cake pan.
Neela says
Sorry, I miss saying my question is about Handvo recipe you have for IP.
Thx
Archana says
Hi Neela, yes for IP also a metal cake pan works best. 7” pans fit well in a 6-qt IP
Daisy says
Does the dough need to be out or in the fridge.
Archana says
Out at warm a place
Daisy says
Hi Archana. I made it today in the IP. It came out excellent. My first time making it. I don't usually like it as it is dry, but this was moist. However, i couldn't get the beautiful color like yours. I did broil but at 450 and almost on the middle shelf for fear of it drying out. Is that why? Wish I could add a picture.
Archana says
Hi! I usually broil on top shelf just for few mins, but overdoing can dry it out. Email me the picture. Sorry don’t have the feature of adding photo to the comments yet.
Daisy says
Not sure how to email you.
Archana says
[email protected]
pym says
wonderful wonderful recipe.
i've got such a big bag of ondhwa flour left having tough time getting any google quieries aas to what else can i use this flour for? and recipes. if you know please let me know or better yet some recipes
thanks
Archana says
I am SO glad you liked the handvo. You can make dhokla with the same flour. I do not have a published recipe but if you search there will be a few.
pym says
thank you for reply so only handvo or dhokla?
also do they have a sweet handvo recipe rather than the spice handvo>
Archana says
I have not made sweet handvo but sounds interesting 🙂
Sonia says
Hello Archana! I tried this in the IP and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I had a question , I was thinking of getting a spiralizer but unable to make up my mind. I want to know if a spiralizer would work well for this handvo recipe and any other Indian recipes like muthiya, Raita, etc that requires shredding.
Your feedback will be much appreciated
Archana says
Hi Sonia, Thank you of your feedback. I am glad you enjoyed the handvo. I would not recommend spiralizer for Indian dishes like muthiya, handvo or raita. What you need is a grater and I love my food processor with grater blade. Hope this helps.
sajida Arsiwala says
Hi Archana
I have never made handvo and want to try with a mixture of rice and lentils. When I grind them, what should be the consestency of the batter? Also, when you say ferment it after grinding for 6-8 hours I assume it should be mixed with the yogurt first, right?
Thanks so much
Archana says
Consistency of cake or idli batter. And ferment with yogurt in it. Hope this helps.
Vikash Agrawal says
I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s equally educative and amusing,
and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is
something not enough people are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy that I stumbled across this during my hunt
for something relating to this. http://www.signaturefooddiaries.com/handvo-vegetable-cake-rutal-mahajan/
Archana says
Thank you for your kind words. I will forward to reading your blog.