In a mixing bowl, add 1 cup small-grain rice, ½ cup chana dal, ¼ cup toor dal, ¼ cup urad dal, 1 tsp methi dana, and ½ cup poha. Wash everything well and soak for 4–5 hours, or until the rice and dals become soft.
Drain the soaked rice and dals and transfer them to a mixer jar. Add ½ cup curd and 1 cup water, then grind to a smooth paste.
Transfer the ground batter to a mixing bowl. Add ½ cup rava and 1 tbsp oil, and mix well. Whisk the batter for about 2 minutes.
Cover the bowl and allow the batter to ferment for 6 hours.
Once the handvo batter is properly fermented, add salt to taste, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp black pepper powder, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp green chilli-ginger-garlic paste, 2 tbsp crushed peanuts, 2 cups grated lauki, and ½ cup chopped coriander leaves. Mix well.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a tadka pan. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, 5–6 curry leaves, a pinch of hing, and 2 dry red chillies. Mix well and prepare the tadka. Add half of the tadka to the batter and reserve the remaining tadka for garnishing the handvo.
Now add ½ tsp baking soda and 1 tbsp lemon juice to the batter and mix gently.
To bake the handvo, place a tawa on the gas stove and keep a kadai on top of it. Grease the kadai with oil and place a small glass in the centre. Pour the handvo batter around the glass and level it evenly. Pour the remaining tadka on top and sprinkle some sesame seeds and red chilli powder. Add some water into the glass, cover the kadai with a lid, and bake the handvo on low-medium flame for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, you can also make handvo directly in a kadai or prepare handvo bites in an appe pan (refer to the video).
Once the handvo is properly baked, allow it to cool and then demould it. Cut into pieces and serve with chutney.