South Indian Meal - Part One - Dosa

One of my favorite types of international food is South Indian. Super healthy, well balanced, extremely spicy and sooooooo tasty! South Indians traditionally roast their spices before grinding them so that the dried spices are at the peak of their flavors.

This particular post is part one of four posts to create the ultimate south indian meal - masala dosa with sambar and coconut chutney. South Indians traditionally eat this for breakfast, but I think it's fab for dinner! Plus, I usually don't have time in the mornings to whip up dosa!

Dosa is a savoury crepe, made of rice and lentil. Pouring out the dough on the pan, and getting it spread out very thin is the hardest part. It depends on a few things. First, the thickness of your batter. You need it the exact same consistency as pancake dough, no thinner otherwise you will just make it more difficult for yourself. Second, the heat of your pan. Your pan can't be too hot or too cold. I recommend putting your stove on medium heat, and giving it about 4 minutes to heat up nicely. I also recommend using cast iron over non stick for a really tasty dosa!Third, the spoon that you use to spread out the dough. You should use a large scoop spoon that has a nice rounded bottom, preferably something that is metal, not plastic. Finally, it's all about technique and confidence. If you spread it out too slowly, there are higher chances of it sticking all together and turning into a pile of mush. The faster you go, the higher the chances of a successful dosa. This takes practice on your technique, patience and confidence. good luck!!

Ingredients

3 cups white rice (either patna or basmati)
1 cup urad lentil (also know as black gram dal) - found in some grocery stores and most indian stores
salt

Directions

1. Wash the rice and lentil really well. Soak them in separate bowls overnight in water.
2. Blender the rice until it is very fine and pour into a large bowl.
3. Blender the lentil and mix into the rice blend.
4. Cover the mixture and store in a warm, humid place overnight. I recommend in the oven with the oven light turned on all night.
5. The next morning, you should have a fermented dough that has risen and is slightly puffy when mixed. If not, you can either try again for another 6-8 hours, or use the dough as is. It won't be the greatest texture, but it's not horrible.
6. Add salt to your taste in the dough and stir it in really well.
7. Add water until it is the consistency of pancake batter - your dough is now ready to make dosa!
8. Heat up the cast iron pan. Keep a small bowl of oil with a spoon nearby, as well as a paper towel with one small end dipped in oil.
9. As the pan heats up, take the oiled paper towel and rub it all over the surface of the pan. If the oil begins to burn, your pan is too hot. Remove from heat and let it cool down a little.
10. with a large scoop spoon, take a heaping spoon of the dough and pour to the centre of the pan. Starting from the center, spread the dough outwards, in the path of a spiral, until there is no dough left to spread out. Exert very little pressure on the dough.
11. Put a few drops of oil around the edge of the dosa and let it cook on medium high heat.
12. When you can see the other side has browned, and the top side has no moist parts of dosa dough, your dosa is done!

The next time I make dosa at home, I promise to post a video to show you how this is done.