Dosai

Dosai is a typical South Indian food mostly served for breakfast as it is rich in carbohydrates and proteins. Regular dosai is a mixture of rice and lentils but there are many variations in different parts of India and they are served not only for breakfast but for other meals too.

Ingredients:
1 cup Boiled Rice
6 cups Rice grains
2 cups urad dhal (skinned)
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
½ handful salt
Ghee or oil for frying

Preparing the dosai batter:
Soak the rice, the fenugreek seeds and the dhal separately, for about 5-8 hours. Grind the rice using a blender or food processor in batches with sufficient water until it is a smooth paste.

Grind the urad dhal until fluffy by adding a little water at a time.

Mix together the two pastes with the salt in a big vessel to make a thick batter. Leave it in a dark warm place for about 8 hours. The batter triples its initial volume after fermentation, so it?s better to make sure the bowl is big enough to allow space for the batter to rise.

Frying dosais:
If the fermented batter is too thick add some water to make it thinner or to obtain a flowing consistency. Let?s say about a ladle of water for 6 ladles of dough.
Prepare a bowl of ghee/oil.
In another bowl prepare another 5tbsps of ghee and half an onion pricked on the bulged part with a fork.

Heat a heavy cast iron griddle or a non-stick pan until a few drops of water dropped on the surface sizzles.
Dip the pricked onion in the ghee and grease the surface of the griddle/pan with the ghee.

Take a deep ladle full of batter and drop the batter in the middle of the pan, quickly swirl the batter away from the middle until it is spreads evenly in a circle around the pan. You must do this quickly because once the batter cooks, it is difficult to spread.


Take a teaspoon full of ghee/oil and spread it on the dosai and also around the edges of the dosai. Wait a minute or two, until you see the edges browning and insert a flat ladle under the dosai and all around the dosai, until it is released completely. After releasing the dosai, flip it around on the other side. Wait a minute or two until it is cooked and remove from the pan.

Plain Dosais can be served with any Chutney / Veg curries like Sambhar / Non-veg curry/ Thuvayal.

Here, I've served with Idli Podi and Fish Puli Kozhambu.

However, people like my Hum Hum and my teddies love eating it as Mutta Dosais ( a variation with eggs on top of the dosai) .
Dosai batter can be very well conserved in a refrigerator for a week.