Allow me to introduce ઢોકળિયું/Dhokaliyu, the steamer of Gujarati inheritance.
Across South India, we have idli patra as a steamer, Maharashtra has modak patra while Gujarat has Dhokaliyu; the vessel earns its name from the job it was designed to do – primarily to steam dhokla also muthiya and Patra.
Earlier, dhoklaiya were either formed in copper or brass. Later aluminum dhoklaiya with thali and bowls (for idli) took precedence, and now it is the multi-utility, induction friendly kadai shaped steamers that have almost replaced the aluminum dhoklaiya.
The vintage brass dhoklaiya came with a triple-decker brass thali stand (which can be seen on the right) and a perforated brass separator (in the background) that doubled as a steaming tray.
Do you have a specific word for steamer in your part of India?
