Gopalkala is a quick and easy Janmashtami special savory recipe mainly prepared with yogurt, flattened rice /aval/poha, and ghee tempering, which is the highlight of this dish. Learn how to make this simple gopalkala or dahi poha with step-wise pictures.

dahi poha served in wooden bowl with flower petals on the side and idol Krishna and candle on the top

If you are looking for easy savory Janmashtami, then you are in the right place. Like vella aval or sweet poha, this savory poha is easy to make, and you can prepare it in less than 15 minutes flat!

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Gopalkala | Dahi Handi
Mosaru avalakki and gopalkala
Ingredients required for gopalkala
Dietary specifications
Gopalkala recipe with detailed step-wise pictures
Recipe notes
More poha recipes from my archives
📖 Recipe

Gopalkala | Dahi Handi

Sri Krishna Jayanthi or Janmashtami or Gokulashtami is a famous Hindu festival where we celebrate the birth of Lord Sri Krishna. It’s celebrated all over India in different ways.

In our household, we typically make bakshanams like uppu seedai, vella seedai, thattai, murukku along with vella aval and offer as neivediyam. Along with these, we also include butter and Jamun fruit (naaval pazham).

We draw small footprints with rice flour from outside the house to inside, marking the arrival of Lord Sri Krishna. This is how we celebrate, but I am sure the celebrations and rituals differ from house to house.

I first learned about the term “gopalkala” from the Sai Satcharitra book (biography based on the true-life stories of Shirdi Sai Baba written by Hemadpant). I thought it was the dahi handi festival where the earthen pot is filled with milk-based delicacies or other goodies, which the folks break by forming a human pyramid. (I have seen this only in movies and TV)

Last year, when I saw bloggers sharing the Gopalkala recipe, I realized it’s a popular Maharashtrian recipe made during Gokulashtami. I read it’s the dish filled inside the dahi handi.

Mosaru avalakki and gopalkala

When I looked into the recipes, I felt it’s more like the mosaru avalakki (Kannada word meaning yogurt flattened). In Tamil, we call it thayir aval, and in Telugu, it is perugu atukulu.

The only difference that I could make was the tempering. We usually use oil and temper it with mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. But for gopalkala, we use ghee or butter and use mustard and cumin seeds. I mainly referred to this recipe but prepared mine more like mosaru avalakki but included the ghee tempering.

angled shot of gopalkala served in wooden bowl with cuccumber placed on wooden spoon with lamp and earthen pots on the side

Ingredients required for gopalkala

Flattened rice/aval / poha – I highly recommend thick poha for this recipe. You can use either the red variety or the white poha.

Yogurt – Thick creamy not-so-sour yogurt does all the trick here. So opt for that.

Milk – It’s an optional ingredient. But I always add a little bit of milk while making yogurt rice. So I followed the same here.

Cucumber – It adds a good crunch to this dish, and mostly all gopalkala calls for cucumber.

Red grapes – It’s an optional ingredient. You can use green grapes or pomegranate arils or altogether skip it.

Coconut – I used frozen grated coconut, which I thawed to room temperature. You can use fresh or frozen. I haven’t tested this recipe with dry desiccated coconut.

Salt and sugar – Yes, we add both salt and sugar to this recipe.

Tempering ingredients – We temper some mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chilies, and ginger in ghee. I did not include any asafoetida.

Dietary specifications

It’s a nut-free and gluten-free vegetarian dish. As you can see, it’s a very light and simple dish. You don’t need any special occasion to prepare it. It’s a perfect summer meal, and as it involves flattened rice, I would recommend making the required quantity before the meal.

Now without any further ado, let’s see how to make this simple gopalkala or the dahi poha.

Gopalkala recipe with detailed step-wise pictures

Wash the flattened rice thoroughly and drain the water. Now sprinkle ¼ cup of water and let it sit for 8 to 10 minutes. A minimum of 5 minutes is sufficient.

When the flattened rice is resting, gather the other ingredients and prepare the tempering. Heat a tempering pan or ladle and add the ghee. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped green chili, and ginger when it’s hot. When the mustard seeds splutter, turn off the heat.

Add the chopped cucumber, yogurt, prepared tempering, grapes, coconut, salt, and sugar. Gently mix.

Now add milk if using and mix well.

That’s it. Gopalkala is ready.

gopalkala prepared and ready to be served

Recipe notes

Adjust the salt, sugar and green chili, and ginger to taste.
I did not include asafoetida, cilantro, or curry leaves. You can add a pinch of asafoetida, 1 tbsp of chopped cilantro, and few curry leaves.
Add more water or yogurt instead of milk. Adjust the yogurt measure as per your consistency preference. Poha slowly absorbs all the liquid, so adding milk helped the poha from drying out.
Tips for getting perfect thayir aval-
Do not soak the poha. Wash and sprinkle water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and at a maximum of 10 minutes but not more than that.
Do not overmix the poha; also, mix it very gently. Soaked poha tends to break, but when you overmix, it becomes a mush.

More poha recipes from my archives

With flattened rice, you can whip up many dishes quickly. It’s very light and an excellent alternative to rice. All poha or aval recipes are bachelor-friendly or beginners-friendly. Do try these poha recipes, and I am sure you will love them.

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If you try this dahi poha, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it ASAP. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest or Instagram or join my Facebook Group for recipe updates and simple Indian meal ideas.

Gopalkala Recipe | Dahi Poha | Easy Janmashtami Recipes