Dosa

When I started cooking, I was comfortable with preparing lunch/dinner, but what I feared the most was making breakfast. I was skeptical about soaking the dal's,rice and grinding it to smooth paste,fermenting them. 

As a kid I used to think that making Dosa, idli etc was a very complex thing! Though amma used to always say that she used to enjoy making dosa as it would save her time the next morning! Now I am following her.. I prefer making dosa,idli for breakfast as I do not have to worry in the morning after waking up and think!!

This is one such simple dosa that I have been making every now and then. It is simple and I get the same crispy dosa everytime.

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Urad Dal

2 cups Rice (I used Idli rice as this is the only one available. You can use Sona masuri/Ponni rice too)

1/2 tsp Methi seeds

2-3 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Wash rice and dal well and soak them along with methi for 3-4 hours. Grind it to smooth paste with water (Add only required qty of water). Let it ferment Overnight.( I had baked some cookies that night so kept the batter in oven to ferment.)

2) Next day morning, Add Sugar and salt. (Sugar gives a very nice taste to Dosa along with colour). Mix well. Add water if the batter is too thick. Mix well.

3) Heat a tawa, Spread a ladle full of batter in circular motion until it forms a uniform circle. Roast it with little oil in medium flame. When it turns to slightly golden colour flip it over and roast the other side for few seconds. Serve hot with Chutney.

I made "Hinga Chutney" with this Dosa.

For Chutney:

3/4 cup grated Coconut

2-3 fried red chilli

small piece of Tamarind

a generous pinch of hing(Asafoetida)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 curry leaves

Procedure:

1) I use the sticky variety of hing. So I heat little oil and put the hing in oil until it fluffs up. Remove it and let it cool.

2) Grind grated coconut + red chilli's+ Tamarind + Salt and little water until it becomes a smooth paste. In the last round of grinding I add the hing and grind it for few more secs.

3) Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl. Heat Oil, Add mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves and switch it off. If using hing powder then it is better to add hing directly to the seasoning. Pour the seasoning over the Chutney. Mix well before serving.

Rava Dosa ~ Resturant Style!!!

Rava Dosa is my hubby's all time fav. Actually it runs in our family (My dad and FIL both love this dosa) and it is the most ordered item whenever we went to restaurants. I always wanted to learn the art of making crispy thin rava dosa at home. But I failed. In search of perfect recipe, I reached Asha's Aroma, The one place where you can get tried and tested recipes which give perfect results everytime. I left a comment on her dosa and was set out to try it. I was surprised when she left a comment suggesting me to try the recipe from Vahchef Sunjay Thumma. The recipe was perfect and we got golden crispy dosa's, The melt in the mouth kind. Thank you Asha for giving us a tried and tested recipe. Thanks to Vahchef too for posting this video on Youtube. Please check the video for exact way to pour the batter.

I used:

1 cup Semolina

1 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup All  Purpose flour

2 green Chillies,small peice of Ginger & few Coriander leaves finely chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Mix all the ingredients with suffecient water to achieve Buttermilk like consistency. 

2) Heat a non-stick tava, and sprinkle the batter. It forms a nice lace like pattern. Do not bother to fill them completely.

3) Sprinkle oil and roast it on medium heat until lightly golden. 

Serve hot with chutney of your choice!