Indulge in a culinary journey to South India with our delightful dosas, a traditional fermented crepe made from rice and lentils. These savory pancakes are a staple breakfast in many households, and we bring you two enticing variations to tantalize your taste buds. Our first recipe features a vibrant green dosa batter infused with the earthy flavor of mustard greens. Paired with a zesty pumpkin seed chutney, this dosa is a delightful explosion of flavors. The second recipe showcases a classic potato filling, perfectly seasoned with aromatic spices and herbs. Accompanied by a tangy tomato chutney, this dosa is a comforting and satisfying meal. Both recipes are accompanied by step-by-step instructions and helpful tips to ensure your dosas turn out perfect. So, gather your ingredients, fire up your stove, and embark on a culinary adventure with our delectable dosas and flavorful chutneys.
Here are our top 4 tried and tested recipes!
DOSAS WITH MUSTARD GREENS AND PUMPKIN-SEED CHUTNEY
Making dosas - those gloriously thin, pleasingly sour South Indian flatbreads - at home requires some advance planning. You may need to hunt down the ingredients (online or at an Indian market), and you'll definitely have to soak the lentils and then let the batter ferment for at least 8 hours or overnight. But the crisp and flavorful crepes are well worth the effort. Note that the first dosas you fry might not turn out well - spreading the batter thin enough takes practice. This recipe, adapted from the chef Anita Jaisinghani of Pondicheri, calls for filtered water because fluoride can interfere with fermentation.
Provided by Melissa Clark
Categories dinner, snack, breads, main course
Time 1h30m
Yield 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 22
Steps:
- Make the batter: Rinse the rice and urad dal in cold water, then drain and transfer to a large bowl or container. Add fenugreek and cover with cold, filtered water by 2 inches. Let soak at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight.
- Drain the mixture, then transfer to a powerful blender, food processor or wet/dry grinder. Add 1 cup filtered water and blend until you get a smooth and runny batter. Depending on the power of your machine, this could take several minutes.
- Whisk in rice flour, ragi or millet flour, sugar and salt. The mixture should resemble thin pancake batter.
- Transfer batter to a large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours to ferment - the colder the room is, the longer it will take to ferment. You'll know it's ready when the batter has puffed up and bubbles have formed all over the surface. If not using immediately, cover and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
- Meanwhile, make the chutney: In a blender or spice grinder, coarsely grind 2/3 cup of the pumpkin seeds and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the 1/2 cup coconut oil over medium heat. Stir in mustard seeds and curry leaves and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in onions and grated coconut and cook until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. If necessary, reduce heat to low to prevent browning. Stir in ginger and cayenne and cook another 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in coconut water, ground and whole pumpkin seeds, and salt to taste; scrape into a serving dish. (Chutney can be made up to 5 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.)
- When ready to make dosas, remove batter from fridge and let come to room temperature. (Do not try to make dosas from cold batter.)
- Meanwhile, cook the greens: In a large skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat until almost smoking, then stir in coriander and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in greens and salt, and continue to cook until just wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
- To make the dosas, heat a 10-inch or larger cast-iron or nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat (no higher) and brush very lightly with coconut oil. Don't use too much oil or the dosas will move around, and will not cook properly. Using a 1/4 cup measure or ladle, pour batter in the middle of the griddle. Let it set for about 2 seconds, then quickly spread outward in a circular motion using the bottom of the ladle or measuring cup. You're looking for a circle approximately 8 to 9 inches in diameter.
- Drizzle a little coconut oil on top of the dosa. Leave dosa batter to cook until browned on the bottom and dry at the edges and on top, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to carefully loosen all sides of the dosa and transfer to a plate.
- Spread a layer of pumpkin-seed chutney over the dosa then top with greens. Fold in half or gently roll up, and serve immediately. Repeat with more batter, chutney and greens.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 589, UnsaturatedFat 11 grams, Carbohydrate 54 grams, Fat 38 grams, Fiber 5 grams, Protein 13 grams, SaturatedFat 24 grams, Sodium 384 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams
HOMESTYLE DOSAS WITH TOMATO CHUTNEY
Dosas are commonly served with a spiced potato filling, sambar (a thin lentil stew) or a savory chutney. Coconut chutney is the standard, but when coconuts are hard to come by, a tomato one steps in nicely.
Provided by Tara O'Brady
Categories Rice Onion Chile Pepper Tomato Curry
Yield 4-6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 17
Steps:
- Dosa batter
- The morning before you make your batter, rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water, until water runs almost clear. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with 4 cups cold water. If your tap water is heavily chlorinated, use filtered water for soaking as chlorine will inhibit fermentation later on.
- Pick over dal for debris, then rinse in sieve under cold running water. Transfer to a medium bowl and add fenugreek. Cover with 2 cups cold water (again using filtered if needed). Let rice and dal soak at least 8 hours and up to 10 hours.
- Drain rice, holding back grains with your hand and pouring off most of the soaking liquid into a pitcher or large measuring glass. Transfer rice to a blender. Pulse to get things going, then purée, sparingly adding soaking liquid as needed, until a paste forms (mixture should be foamy and still slightly gritty when rubbed between your fingers). Pour into a clean large bowl. Repeat process with dal mixture, then vigorously stir blended dal into rice paste.
- Add reserved soaking liquid as needed to create a pourable batter that falls off the spoon in a steady stream and gradually dissolves into itself. Stir in salt. (If you are in a warm climate, add salt after fermentation to keep batter from becoming overly sour.) Cover bowl with a kitchen towel, then a silicone lid (this will keep the surface of the batter from drying out). Set bowl in a warm spot (a proofing box or an oven with the light on and a bowl of hot water placed inside work well). Let batter sit until airy and pleasantly sour (when you drizzle it from a spoon, it should fall on itself in slowly dissolving ribbons), 4-6 hours in a very warm environment and as long as 2 days in a very cool environment. In general, 14 hours is a safe starting point.
- Do ahead: Batter can be made 1 week ahead. Once fermented, cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before cooking. Thin with water if needed to reach a thick but pourable consistency.
- Chutney and assembly
- Heat 2 tsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add green chiles and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, add tomatoes and any juices and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are tender, 7-9 minutes. Carefully transfer to clean blender or a food processor and blend until smooth; reserve skillet. Taste chutney and season with more salt if needed. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Wipe out reserved skillet and heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in skillet over medium. Cook mustard seeds, stirring constantly, until they start to pop, about 30 seconds. Add curry leaves, dried red chile, and dal and cook, stirring occasionally, until curry leaves wilt and crisp and dal is starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Mix in asafoetida, if using, and remove spice oil from heat. Mix into chutney.
- To cook dosas, heat a griddle or large skillet (the larger the better; you want the batter to have room to spread) over medium. Sprinkle a little water on surface; if it sizzles you're good to go. (It's important though not to let griddle get hotter than medium. If it's too hot, the batter will start to cook before it's fully spread out, yielding a thick dosa, or worse, a thin dosa that tears. Adjust heat as needed). Brush griddle with a thin layer of ghee, wiping off excess with a folded paper towel. Ladle a generous ⅓-cupful of batter in the center of griddle and use ladle to spread batter, working outward in continuous circles and never lifting ladle off surface, to create an 8"-diameter round. Ridges of thick and thin batter will form naturally. Cook dosa 30 seconds, then drizzle ⅛ tsp. ghee over batter. For a spongier dosa, cover with a large bowl and steam until cooked through, about 2 minutes (cooked underside should show through thinner spots, and thicker spots should be opaque and bouncy). For a drier dosa, cook until surface is mostly set, about 2 minutes, then, using a fish spatula or other wide spatula, flip dosa over (it should easily lift from the griddle at this point) and cook until second side is lightly golden, about 20 seconds. Fold dosa in half so toasted side is facing out and transfer to a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter and ghee.
- Serve dosas as they are ready with chutney alongside for dipping.
CLASSIC MASALA DOSA
A properly made crisp and savory Indian dosa is wonderfully delicious, and fairly simple to make at home, with this caveat: the batter must be fermented overnight for the correct texture and requisite sour flavor. However, once the batter is ready, it can be refrigerated and kept for several days, even a week. With a traditional spicy potato filling, dosas makes a perfect vegetarian breakfast or lunch. Serve them with your favorite chutney.
Provided by David Tanis
Categories dinner, project, main course
Time 15h
Yield 8 to 10 servings
Number Of Ingredients 19
Steps:
- Make the dosa batter: Put rice in a bowl, rinse well and cover with 4 cups cold water. Put urad dal and fenugreek seeds in a small bowl, rinse well and add cold water to cover. Leave both to soak for 4 to 6 hours.
- Drain rice and dal-fenugreek mixture in separate colanders. Put rice in a food processor, blender or wet-dry grinder. Add 1 cup cold water and grind to a smooth paste. It will take about 10 minutes, and it may be necessary to work in batches. Repeat the process with the dal-fenugreek mixture.
- Combine the two pastes in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together, adding enough water to obtain a medium-thick batter. You should have about 6 cups. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place. Let ferment until the surface is bubbly, about 8 hours. Stir in the salt. Use the batter straight away or refrigerate for later use. (Batter will keep for up to a week, refrigerated. Thin with water if necessary before proceeding.)
- Make the potato filling: Put ghee in a wide skillet over medium heat. When oil is wavy, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Wait for seeds to pop, about 1 minute, then add red peppers and onion. Cook, stirring until onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Add turmeric, asafetida, ginger, curry leaves, garlic and green chile. Stir to coat and let sizzle for 1 minute.
- Add potatoes and 1/2 cup water. Cook, stirring well to combine, until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Mash potatoes a bit with the back of a wooden spoon. Season well with salt, add cilantro, then set aside at room temperature. (Potato filling may be prepared up to a day in advance.)
- To make dosas, set a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Brush with about 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Ladle 1/4 cup batter in the center of griddle. Using bottom of ladle, quickly spread batter outward in a circular motion to a diameter of about 7 inches. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil over the top. Leave dosa batter to brown gradually until outer edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes, cooking on one side only. With a spatula, carefully loosen dosa from griddle. Bottom should be crisp and beautifully browned. Spoon 1/2 cup potato filling onto top of dosa, centering it as a strip in the middle of the round dosa. Flatten the potato mixture slightly. Using the spatula, fold the sides of the dosa around the filling to make a cylindrical shape. Serve immediately. Continue making dosas one at a time.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 505, UnsaturatedFat 26 grams, Carbohydrate 54 grams, Fat 30 grams, Fiber 4 grams, Protein 7 grams, SaturatedFat 2 grams, Sodium 243 milligrams, Sugar 3 grams, TransFat 0 grams
CHUTNEY MUSTARD
Use this sweet and spicy spread on your favorite sandwich.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Healthy Recipes Gluten-Free Recipes
Number Of Ingredients 2
Steps:
- In a food processor, combine chutney and mustard; process until smooth.
Tips:
- To make the perfect dosa batter, use a combination of urad dal, rice, and fenugreek seeds. Soak them overnight and grind them into a smooth batter. The batter should be slightly thick and fluffy.
- When making the pumpkin seed chutney, use a variety of pumpkin seeds for a more complex flavor. Roast the seeds in a pan until they are fragrant and golden brown.
- To make the mustard greens, wash them thoroughly and chop them into small pieces. Sauté them in a pan with oil, garlic, and ginger until they are tender and flavorful.
- When serving the dosas, spread a layer of mustard greens on top and drizzle with pumpkin seed chutney. You can also add a dollop of yogurt or coconut chutney for extra flavor.
Conclusion:
These dosas with mustard greens and pumpkin seed chutney are a delicious and nutritious meal that is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They are easy to make and can be tailored to your own taste preferences. Experiment with different types of greens and chutneys to create your own unique dosa recipes.
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