I had a great conversation with Atul Kochhar at Feastival and he inspired me to go down the Indian street food vibe. Traditionally, dosa batter would have been left to ferment for a couple of days, but I think this version is more realistic to make at home. Im so excited about this dish because its one of those recipes where anyone can knock it out and achieve something really authentic.
Prick the potatoes and sweet potatoes all over with a knife and bake until soft, either in the coals of your fire or barbecue or wrapped in foil in the oven at 200°C/400°F/gas 6 for around 1 hour, or until soft and cooked through. Cut open on a board and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Roughly mash then set aside while you cook your spice mixture.
Heat a lug of olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the chillies, ginger, mustard seeds, turmeric and a good pinch of salt and pepper and cook, shaking the pan frequently, until it smells fantastic and the seeds start to pop. Pour the mixture over your potatoes then gently mix together with a knife I guess its a bit like glorified mash potato. Taste and season if needed, then add the lime juice, spring onions and coriander. Mix everything together, then set aside.
For the dosa batter, add the flours to a bowl with the bicarb, mustard seeds and a good pinch of salt. Gradually whisk in enough water, about 400ml, to make a loose batter. Add a splash of oil to a pan over a medium-high heat and carefully wipe it around with kitchen paper. Add a spoonful of batter to the pan and immediately twist so the batter coats the base and slips up the edges. As soon as the moisture on top starts to cook away and there are lots of bubbles, add a few heaped teaspoons of potato filling and gently spread across the dosa. Once the base is crispy, loosely roll up the dosa in the pan and youre ready to go. Serve with minted yoghurt, chutneys and wedges of lime.
ingredients
2 baking potatoes, scrubbed
2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed
olive oil
1 dried red chilli, finely sliced
1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
1cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1½ teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, halved
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
a few coriander sprigs, roughly chopped
minted yoghurt, Indian chutney and lime wedges, to serve
For the Dosa batter
1 cup gram (chickpea) flour
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2½ teaspoons mustard seeds
olive oil
tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
1. by Sol on Tue 08 May 2012 @ 23:59
If you can't find gram flour or dal flour, try bread flour with a couple teaspoons of banana juice and cream of tartar mixed into the batter. Let it stand for four hours, then add a teapoon of white vinegar, then cook as usual. WOrks great!
2. by Jules on Wed 07 Mar 2012 @ 18:41
Great recipe. However, I've three minor comments: (1) I agree fully with the advice above regarding fermentation of the batter mixture - it's far superior than using bicarbonate of soda, but more time-consuming (2) cooked peas and carrots are often added to the filling, and they provide a little color (3) you can get packets of sambar mixture from a decent Asian supermarket - actually tastes reasonably authentic!
3. by smitha on Wed 11 Jan 2012 @ 21:53
this is an interseting take on dosa. Personally I feel the bicarb makes the tummy a little bloaty. What I personally prefer is mix 3cups rice flour to 1 cup of lentil powde ..Give it a wiz in a blender adding water little at a time till you have a mixture free of lumps and is runny.To this add ready to use yeast(use as directed in the pack) and rest it for half hour in a warm place eg under radiator/oven.your batter is now ready to be used. no fuss at all.
4. by Seema on Fri 16 Dec 2011 @ 20:34
This dosa filling has interesting mofifications made to it. However this batter is not even remotely close a traditional dosa batter. South indian dosas are made with a combination of rice & lentils that are soaked, ground & fermented overnight. The fermentation results in fluffy doasas with additional health benefits due to the bacteria causing the fermentation. The same benefits cannot be achieved by adding bicarb. I believe food is all about healing and using the right procedures can give immense health benefits. However I am happy to see a typical indian dish appear on this website.
5. by Nithya on Fri 09 Dec 2011 @ 14:03
Hi This is more of a besan chilla (cheela) which is from west India. Chilla is made with gram flour only (no flour and no bi-carb) and it is informally called a vegetarian eggless omelet since onions, tomatoes and green chillies, and spices are added to a gram flour batter. It is a grain free, gluten free dish and works well as a main course. <br />
As for the tradtional dosa, the process of fermenting the batter makes it infinitely more nutritive and is made regularly in South Indian homes.
6. by sue on Fri 02 Dec 2011 @ 05:18
You can soak mung beans and rice (2:1 ratio) overnight and grind them with a food processor with water, onions, chillies and ginger to get a batter.. This is a regional variation of the dosa... alternatively you can thick pan cakes with this batter and top it with veggies of you choice, before you flip it over... Something like a pan pizza! I make it for my 1 yr old, he loves it, and its a balanced meal in one go!
7. by Megha on Tue 15 Nov 2011 @ 15:46
Being a south indian i must say that Dosa is best when made with Blackgram (Urad daal) & Idili rice (which is usually available at big Indian grocers). If one needs to make a quick treat of dosa we tend to make it from the ready to make mix that is found in any Asian shops. They taste more authentic than the one made with Chickpea batter. Try that out sometime !!
8. by PB on Wed 09 Nov 2011 @ 15:45
The bi-carb is great to make a quicky dosa, unfortunately it can cause tummy upsets. I would just grind the batter from the scratch and leave to ferment overnight. In the cold weather, it will be good to keep the mixing bowl in a warm room to allow the fermentation to take place normally
9. by Bhavana Kuka on Thu 08 Sep 2011 @ 18:20
This tastes awesome with a filling of scrambled eggs (made with finely chopped green chillis to give it some extra kick) or even mutton mince cooked with onions and spices. What the heck...you can make your own fillings for the dosa :)))
10. by Jennie on Mon 05 Sep 2011 @ 14:19
How much is a cup?
11. by mridula on Mon 05 Sep 2011 @ 11:34
Yes Sarah. you can use rice flour which is the more traditional ingredient. My mother uses the traditional mix of rice and split black gram and makes the batter.Though that is a very long process and takes about a day or two to make.As the recipe suggests the batter mix given is a simpler and quicker way of making dosa. Thus coming down to your answer, use rice flour, and for a twist roast semolina for a minute and ass to your better, you will get a very nice crispy dosa. Enjoy.
12. by melisssa on Tue 30 Aug 2011 @ 07:41
you need a really good non stick frying pan for these. You cant use oil on the pan otherwise they are not crispy. Our first dosa was great but we couldnt get the rest off our pan.
13. by Liz on Sat 27 Aug 2011 @ 09:00
Tesco sell gram flour in the Ethnic/foreign food isle. Huge bag £2+ and a smaller bag for under a £1 :o)
14. by miallie on Fri 26 Aug 2011 @ 16:01
Yey, this is Vegan! Hoorah!
15. by Mal on Wed 24 Aug 2011 @ 09:38
Hi Sarah,<br />
<br />
Most of the big supermarkets have chickpea flour. They call it Gram flour e.g.:<br />
http://www.tesco.com/superstore/xpi/2/xpi55433072.htm <br />
<br />
Hope this helps.<br />
<br />
Mal
16. by Sarah on Tue 23 Aug 2011 @ 17:46
Is there anything I can use other than the chickpea flour? As I can't find it in my local shop
daily recipe rss
If you can't find gram flour or dal flour, try bread flour with a couple teaspoons of banana juice and cream of tartar mixed into the batter. Let it stand for four hours, then add a teapoon of white vinegar, then cook as usual. WOrks great!
Great recipe. However, I've three minor comments: (1) I agree fully with the advice above regarding fermentation of the batter mixture - it's far superior than using bicarbonate of soda, but more time-consuming (2) cooked peas and carrots are often added to the filling, and they provide a little color (3) you can get packets of sambar mixture from a decent Asian supermarket - actually tastes reasonably authentic!
this is an interseting take on dosa. Personally I feel the bicarb makes the tummy a little bloaty. What I personally prefer is mix 3cups rice flour to 1 cup of lentil powde ..Give it a wiz in a blender adding water little at a time till you have a mixture free of lumps and is runny.To this add ready to use yeast(use as directed in the pack) and rest it for half hour in a warm place eg under radiator/oven.your batter is now ready to be used. no fuss at all.
This dosa filling has interesting mofifications made to it. However this batter is not even remotely close a traditional dosa batter. South indian dosas are made with a combination of rice & lentils that are soaked, ground & fermented overnight. The fermentation results in fluffy doasas with additional health benefits due to the bacteria causing the fermentation. The same benefits cannot be achieved by adding bicarb. I believe food is all about healing and using the right procedures can give immense health benefits. However I am happy to see a typical indian dish appear on this website.
Hi This is more of a besan chilla (cheela) which is from west India. Chilla is made with gram flour only (no flour and no bi-carb) and it is informally called a vegetarian eggless omelet since onions, tomatoes and green chillies, and spices are added to a gram flour batter. It is a grain free, gluten free dish and works well as a main course. <br /> As for the tradtional dosa, the process of fermenting the batter makes it infinitely more nutritive and is made regularly in South Indian homes.
You can soak mung beans and rice (2:1 ratio) overnight and grind them with a food processor with water, onions, chillies and ginger to get a batter.. This is a regional variation of the dosa... alternatively you can thick pan cakes with this batter and top it with veggies of you choice, before you flip it over... Something like a pan pizza! I make it for my 1 yr old, he loves it, and its a balanced meal in one go!
Being a south indian i must say that Dosa is best when made with Blackgram (Urad daal) & Idili rice (which is usually available at big Indian grocers). If one needs to make a quick treat of dosa we tend to make it from the ready to make mix that is found in any Asian shops. They taste more authentic than the one made with Chickpea batter. Try that out sometime !!
The bi-carb is great to make a quicky dosa, unfortunately it can cause tummy upsets. I would just grind the batter from the scratch and leave to ferment overnight. In the cold weather, it will be good to keep the mixing bowl in a warm room to allow the fermentation to take place normally
This tastes awesome with a filling of scrambled eggs (made with finely chopped green chillis to give it some extra kick) or even mutton mince cooked with onions and spices. What the heck...you can make your own fillings for the dosa :)))
How much is a cup?
Yes Sarah. you can use rice flour which is the more traditional ingredient. My mother uses the traditional mix of rice and split black gram and makes the batter.Though that is a very long process and takes about a day or two to make.As the recipe suggests the batter mix given is a simpler and quicker way of making dosa. Thus coming down to your answer, use rice flour, and for a twist roast semolina for a minute and ass to your better, you will get a very nice crispy dosa. Enjoy.
you need a really good non stick frying pan for these. You cant use oil on the pan otherwise they are not crispy. Our first dosa was great but we couldnt get the rest off our pan.
Tesco sell gram flour in the Ethnic/foreign food isle. Huge bag £2+ and a smaller bag for under a £1 :o)
Yey, this is Vegan! Hoorah!
Hi Sarah,<br /> <br /> Most of the big supermarkets have chickpea flour. They call it Gram flour e.g.:<br /> http://www.tesco.com/superstore/xpi/2/xpi55433072.htm <br /> <br /> Hope this helps.<br /> <br /> Mal
Is there anything I can use other than the chickpea flour? As I can't find it in my local shop