Dosa

Dosa is probably the most popular of Southern Indian dishes. Though served mostly for breakfast, it makes a wonderful lunch or dinner! Serve it plain or stuff with potatoes to make Masala Dosa.

My mother used to make it with a little ghee and sugar in the middle for the kids. She would just sprinkle a bit of sugar and ghee as it is cooking. I still love to eat it this way, though sometimes I use splenda and olive oil instead to make an adult version!

Serve with coconut chutney and/or sambar.

Ingredients:

long grain rice - 3.5 cups
Uncle Ben's parboiled rice - .5 cup
urad dal - 1 cup (available in Indian grocery stores)
ghee/vegetable oil - as needed
salt to taste

Clean and soak the rices and dal separately in plenty of water for 4-6 hours. Grind dal in a heavy duty blender till very smooth. Add enough water to facilitate smooth grinding. Similarly, grind the rice till very smooth. Mix ground dal and rice together and keep in a warm place to ferment overnight. In winter, you may have to leave it in a preheated oven to achieve fermentation. Just warm the oven, turn it off and leave the batter inside. When fermented, the batter would rise and become foamy. At this point, it would have the consistency of pancake batter. Add salt and mix well. Dosa batter is ready!

Heat a 10" non-stick pan or well seasoned cast-iron griddle. Moisten a papertowel or piece of cotton cloth with a little bit of oil and apply to the pan. This step is critical to keep the dosa from sticking to the pan and should be repeated each time.

Pour the batter (approximately 1/3 - 1/2cup) with a large serving spoon, and quickly spread in concentric circles with the back of the spoon till the batter is spread out evenly. Add 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil or ghee on top. When it crisps, fold over and remove from the pan. Serve immediately.

If dosa is thick, you may have to flip it over and cook the other side too. If it is thin, this step may be eliminated. To make Masala Dosa, add a heaping spoonful of spiced potato masala in the middle of the dosa before folding.

The recipe may be halved or quartered. The batter keeps well in the refrigerator for upto a week. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

It may take a few trials to master spreading dosa. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect!