Masala Queen

Handwa | Handvo

Some dishes are more than recipes — they are entire childhoods folded into a single bite.

Handwa (or handvo in Gujarati) instantly takes me back to our home in Kisumu. The kitchen filled with the aroma of soaked lentils and rice, grated vegetables, caramelizing onions — and that dramatic tempering of mustard seeds and sesame hitting hot oil before being poured over the batter.

Mama baked hers in a well-loved old pressure cooker, the kind that had earned its seasoning over decades. What emerged was pure magic: a deeply golden crust hugging a soft, savory crumb within.

We cousins would circle the table impatiently, jostling for position, all of us determined to claim the crispiest edge from the side of the pan. There was always a scuffle. Always. Because that crackling crust was everything.

Today, I can liken that prized edge to the tahdig Persians cherish — but for us, it was simply home. Texture, warmth, family, laughter.

Mama first learned the recipe from her Gujarati friends in Kisumu and slowly adapted it to suit our family’s palate. And when I finally recreated it in my own kitchen here in Canada, I knew this humble lentil cake would carry our story forward.

Food binds us. Food remembers. Swipe left on the photographs for the recipe.

FromKenyatoCanada