Daring Cooks cook Indian : Masala Dosa (Updated)

Masala Dosa with Sambhar, coconut chutney and Podi

Debyi from http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com hosted this month’s challenge and ordered Indian Dosas for all of us at Fresh Restaurants (www.freshrestaurants.ca) in Toronto, Canada. Since we all live in a virtual world these days, we were all handed over a recipe from their cookbook  and asked to make dosas to serve ourselves. Now, masala dosas (and oh my dear idlis, made from a similar batter) are a very big favorites with me. I can eat them all the time. My parents and I spent a couple of years in Vishakhapatnam , Andhra Pradesh and that is where my mother learnt to make good idlis and dosas. Another big influence was my Aunt who spent half her life in Chennai, then Madras and cooked fabulous South Indian meals.

Unfortunately I cannot make something with grains and flour and call it a dosa. A similar fare called Chil-ra is made in North India and I will be talking about it at the end of the post. Hence, I used my regular recipe for making dosas . I hope Debyi won’t mind it……..I kept the whole thing Vegan 🙂 .

The Recipe:

Dosa:

• Idli Rice 3 cups soaked in water overnight
• Black gram (Urad Daal)  1 cup soaked in water overnight
• Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp.
• salt to taste

Fenugreek seeds,urad daal soaked and drained and idli rice soaked and drained in picture 2

Soak fenugreek seeds and urad daal together in water overnight. Since I make idlis and dosas from the same batter, I soak rice and lentils separately. Grind the lentils with little water till a very smooth paste is achieved.

Ground lentils

Rice needs to ground well too…..adding rice paste to lentils paste and final paste before fermentation

After lentils and rice are ground well, add rice paste to lentils paste and add about 2 tsp. salt. Leave to ferment 12 to 14 hours. Unless, you live in a hot weather, in that case check after 5-6 hours. The dough should almost double.

 

Half the batter : after fermentation. Add water as required and dosa batter’s ready

 

Ladle the dosa batter in circular motion

Potato filling:

• Potatoes 4 medium boiled and chopped
• Onion 1 big sliced
• Ginger grated 1 tsp.
• Canola Oil 2 tsp.
• Asafoetida (Heeng) 1/2 tsp.
• Mustard seeds (Rai) 1 tsp.
• Fresh Curry leaves 2 stems washed
• Bengal gram (Chana Daal ) 1 tsp.
• Black gram (Urad Daal) 1 tsp.
• Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1 tsp.
• Red chilli powder (Lal mirch) 1/2 tsp.
• salt to taste

Potato filling ingredients clockwise:Fresh curry leaves, boiled potatoes, asafoetida, urad daal, chana daal, grated ginger, mustard seeds and sliced onions

To make the filling:

Heat the oil in a wok and add all the ingredients except potatoes, onion and salt.

Fry for one minute then add the onions. Let them fry for 2 more minutes.

When the onions start to turn translucent, add the potatoes and salt. If the mixture seems too dry, add 2 Tbsps. water. Cover and cook the filling for 5 minutes. The filling is ready.

Add the potato filling as the dosa starts to brown at the bottom

Fold the dosa and we’re done

I prepared 2-3 dosas at a time on a big electric griddle as I was serving 5 people at a time. The best crispness and color is achieved on an iron griddle. The iron griddle is heated , a couple of drops of oil are added to it and a raw onion just sliced at the top is used to spread the oil on the griddle. This is the traditional way of preparing dosas.

Sambhar :

• Split yellow pigeon peas (Arhar/Toor Daal)  2 cups boiled in a pressure cooker with turmeric and salt
• Canola Oil 1 Tbsp.
• Mustard seeds (Rai) 1 tsp.
• Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1 tsp.
• Asafoetida (Heeng)  1/2 tsp.
• Fresh Curry leaves 2 stems washed (remove the stems 😉 )
• Ginger 2 tsp. grated
• Garlic 2 cloves minced
• Shallots/pearl onions 1/2 cup (cut if required to bite size pieces)
• Tomatoes 2 chopped
• Vegetables of choice (beans, bell pepper, bottle gourd etc. ) optional
• Sambhar Masala powder 1 Tbsp.
• Tamarind concentrate 1/2 tsp.
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish

To prepare the sambhar heat oil in a big saucepan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and fresh curry leaves. When you hear the mustard seeds crackle, add the ginger and garlic.

Next add the shallots or pearl onions and fry for a little bit more. Next add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes start getting mushy, add the boiled lentils. Mix well and let it come to a boil. The consistency should be like lentil soup. It can be thinned a bit more if desired.  Finally add the sambhar masala powder and the tamarind concentrate.

(If using actual tamarind, soak it in hot water for 15 minutes. Take the pulp out and discard the fibrous portion and the seeds.)

Garnish with cilantro leaves and the sambhar is ready.

Coconut Chutney:

• Grated coconut (fresh/frozen) 1 cup
• Dalia Daal (Roasted split Bengal gram) 1/2 cup
• Peanuts 2 Tbsp.
• salt to taste

for tempering:

• Canola Oil 1 Tbsp.
• Asafoetida 1/4 tsp.
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp.
• Fresh Curry leaves 2 stems washed
• Whole Red chili 1

Dalia Daal/ Roasted split Bengal gram

This is a very basic coconut chutney but tastes great! To prepare the chutney, grind the chutney ingredients in a grinder (ideally) or a blender (I use) and add a little water. Grind the ingredients well till you get a smooth consistency.

Heat oil in a small wok and add all the tempering ingredients. Heat till you hear crackling noise and the tempering ingredients look crisp. Do not let it burn. Add immediately to the ground chutney.

The coconut chutney’s ready!

Coconut chutney

Please help yourself 😉

Dosa with Nutella , caramel sauce and some sweet butter

 

Chil-ra or Godhuma Dosa:

The actual recipe given by Debyi uses spelt flour to make the crepe. In North India , it is called Chilra and in South India, it is called Godhuma Dosa (whole wheat flour dosa)

The way we make it in North India is slightly different and hence my clarifications. We do not eat the chil-ra with any curry. It is usually eaten with pickle or cilantro chutney or even Bhukni (a dry tangy spice powder)

The Recipe:

• Whole wheat pastry flour (atta) 2 cups
• Onion 1/2 medium minced
• Ginger 1 tsp. grated/minced
• green chilli 1 cut fine
• tomato 1/2 medium chopped fine
• Carom seeds 1 tsp.
• salt to taste
• water

Clockwise: Atta , water , onion, green chili, ginger and tomatoes

Chil-ra with yogurt and mango pickle……comfort food

Add all the ingredients and enough water to make a smooth batter. Make sure no lumps remain.

Heat a griddle and make crepes out of these. These will not be as thin as the lentil mixture. But the meal’s ready instantly. I used to love eating these as kid and still do. My kids are a big fan as well……….only I do not know if it’s the chance to eat pickle or chil-ra that draws them to it. Anyway, it’s a good quick fix for me 😉 .

Edit : 17 Sep.  09 : Oh Dear me! I just re-read my post and realized that I have written the quantity of rice as 1 cup and that of the lentils too. It was a typo. I am so very sorry if anyone has tried making this with the wrong ratio given.  I have marked in red , please do check.