MASALA DOSA
A SOUTH-INDIAN DREAM FOOD
Introduction:
Masala dosas are created in several ways and
varied tastes all over South India. Yet, all of them invariably bring forth
that unique, mouthwatering aroma and that addictively enticing look which
charms your nostalgic memories and makes you want to enjoy them forevermore. My
dear children, who seem to have inherited my father’s gourmet palate, often
pester me to make for them tummyfuls of my tastiest masala dosas. I happily
share with you one of my finest masala dosa recipes. Do cook and enjoy!
Ingredients
for the dosa batter:
1) Aged raw
rice (see note) – 875 gm.
2) Parboiled
Ponni rice – 125 gm.
3) Fenugreek
seeds – 5 gm. (1 teaspoon)
4) Urud dal
(split black gram lentils) – 250 gm.
5) Salt – 10
gm. (2 teaspoons)
Ingredients
for the masala (filling):
1) Peeled
potatoes – 750 gm.
2) Peeled
beetroot – 250 gm.
3) Peeled
carrot – 100 gm.
4) Stemless
hot green chilies – 20 gm.
5) Peeled
ginger – 7 gm.
6) Peeled
onion – 150 gm.
7) Curry
leaves – 2 sprigs
8) Cooking oil
– 15 ml. (1 tablespoon)
9) Mustard
seeds – 5 gm. (1 teaspoon)
10) Urud dal (split black gram lentils) – 10 gm. (2
teaspoons)
11) Garam masala powder – 2 gm. (½ teaspoon)
12) Kashmiri chili powder – 10 gm. (2 teaspoons)
13) Salt – 10 gm (2 teaspoons)
14) Water – 250 ml.
15) Coriander leaves of one plant (optional)
Ingredient
for roasting the dosa:
1) Cooking oil
to grease the pan (for cast-iron pan) or to sprinkle over the dosa as it starts
to crisp (for non-stick pan) – 7.5 ml. (1 ½ teaspoons for each dosa)
To prepare
the batter (make the batter today for masala dosas tomorrow):
Soak the rice
(both) and the fenugreek seeds together in water for 5 to 8 hours. Soak the
urud dal (250 gm.) separately likewise.
Rinse and
drain the urud dal. Transfer to a wet grinder (for best results) and grind to
superfine fluffy paste, adding water from time to time (when you feel the paste
is getting too thick for the grinder). Take out the paste and put it in a large
vessel (a 10 litre vessel would be ideal as you do not want the batter to
overflow when it rises).
Now rinse the
soaked rice and the fenugreek in water, drain and transfer to the wet grinder.
Grind likewise to superfine paste (The paste should not be too thick or too
watery – if thick, the wet grinder will suffer, if watery, the dosa will. Dosa
batter is just a shade thinner than cake batter).
Transfer the
paste to the same vessel. Cover with a lid and leave to rise overnight. Rinse
the wet grinder with a little water and save the wash in a separate vessel.
After resting
overnight, the batter would have risen quite well. Take a look at the vessel in
which you kept the milky water from washing the grinder. Gently tilt the vessel
and drain off the clear water. Add the paste at the bottom to the dosa batter.
Tip in the salt. Stir thoroughly, since the heavier rice paste tends to sink to
the bottom. Set aside.
To make the
masala:
Dice the
potatoes, the beetroot and the carrot roughly to chunks and put them in a
pressure cooker. Pour in a cup (250 ml.) of water, put on the lid and set on
high heat. As soon as you hear the first whistle, lower the heat and let cook
for 10 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the cooker cool naturally (this
provides enough time for the vegetables to cook to perfection).
Meanwhile, chop
the onion to superfine pieces and set aside. Chop the green chilies and the
ginger together to superfine pieces and set aside. Pull the curry leaves off
their sprigs and set aside.
Check to see
if the cooker is cool enough to open the lid (the steam should have subsided
fully). If yes, transfer the contents to a mixing bowl and mash the vegetables
with the bottom of a stainless steel glass. It is good to leave some small
chunks for texture.
Set a large
cast-iron wok (for better taste) or frying pan on high heat. Pour in the
cooking oil (15 ml.) and tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds
are about to finish spluttering, tip in the urud dal (10 gm.) and lower the
heat. Stir till they turn a light brown in colour.
Throw in the chopped green chilies,
the ginger and the curry leaves. Stir for a minute and tip in the powdered
salt, the garam masala powder and the Kashmiri chili powder. Stir once. Now put
in the mashed vegetables, turn up the heat and stir to mix thoroughly. As soon
as the masala is hot, switch off the heat (if you are using coriander leaves to
make the masala more aromatic, chop or break, add and stir once more).
To make the
masala dosa:
Set a flat
cast-iron pan or a non-stick pan on high heat. Use a ladle (which can hold 150
ml. of batter) to stir the batter thoroughly. If you are using a cast-iron pan,
grease it with 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml.) of cooking oil as soon as it is hot. If
you are using a non-stick pan, greasing has to be avoided since the batter will
refuse to stick to the pan to form the dosa.
Pour a
ladleful of batter in the center of the pan. Put the bottom of the ladle at the
center and softly spread the batter in continuous, ever-widening circles till
you get a perfect round dosa.
Cover with a cloche and lower the
heat. A minute later, lift off the cloche. If you are using a non-stick wok,
just sprinkle 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml.) of cooking oil over the dosa. Let the dosa
roast slowly. Soon, you can see golden spots appearing here and there on the
dosa. Use a spoon to spread some masala in a line across the length of the
dosa. Use a flat showel headed trowel or spatula to fold either side of the
dosa over the masala.
Enjoy!!!
Note:
New rice from freshly harvested paddy is a
translucent white in appearance and tends to be too sticky or gooey for the
dosa. So it would be better to buy aged raw rice which is opaque and slightly
cream in colour to get the perfect dosa. B.T. rice (Bombay Terminus rice) gives
excellent results.
