A nice crisp dosa is something that can be enjoyed for any meal, with or without an accompaniment. I do make it with the traditional potato filling once in a while, but it is way more fun to play with the fillings and make it go places. Also, it is a sneaky way to get the boys to eat more vegetables, rather than potato, which gets eaten a lot anyways.
Last evening my dosa took a little trip to Italy, and was received very enthusiastically by my variety- seeking boys. This one’s good to have as a meal with some pesto sauce on the side or even on its own as a snack with a steaming cuppa.
NO-OIL DOSA WITH AN ITALIAN TWIST
For the dosa batter
This reliable, well tried and tested idli/dosa batter recipe is from my friend Sujatha Arun’s blog here.
Ingredients
Idli rice/ponni rice – 3 cups
Whole urad dal (washed)- 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds(methi daana)- 1 tsp
Salt- 1 ½ tsp (adjust as per taste)
- Soak the rice and urad separately for 5-7 hours. Add fenugreek seeds to the urad dal when soaking.
- Place in the refrigerator for an hour and grind them separately in the mixer, using chilled water to grind
- Mix both the ground mixtures very well and add salt (I use my hand to give it a nice whip and mix)
- Leave to ferment overnight or 7-8 hours till the mixture doubles up
- Before making add a little water to the batter (Do this very carefully, we don’t want the batter very thin)
- To make dosas- Heat a non-stick pan/griddle, sprinkle water and wipe and then spread a ladle full of batter. The dosa will leave the pan on its own. It needs NO oil at all. Cook till browned.*
- Spread the desired filling and serve hot.
For the filling
Ingredients
Mixed vegetables, chopped fine- ½ a cup each of chopped green peppers(capsicum), carrots, beans
Onions, chopped fine- 2 medium
Garlic, minced- 1 Tbsp
Paneer/cottage cheese, crumbled- ¼ cup
Mozarella cheese,grated- ½ cup
Salt- to taste
Black pepper crushed- ½ tsp
Mixed Italian herbs (optional, I didn’t add any)- ½ tsp
Oil- 1 ½ tsp
Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook till onions become transparent. Add in the chopped mixed vegetables and cook till done. Season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs (if using).
Add the crumbled paneer and grated mozzarella. Spread over the dosa, fold the dosa and serve.
* Any filling can be used with the dosa
* The griddle has to be very hot and then cooled by sprinkling water and the batter has to be spread quickly for an even finish.
CafeGarima 