Masala Dosa – my way

Sunday brunch was always dosa at home while growing up. A decade later, my kid was weaned on idli at 6 months. Now my wonderful babysitter soaks the grains on Thursday and grinds them every Friday for 2 dosa meals a week. My dosa recipe is from a Tamilian friend and works well for both idli and dosa

Dosa

Soak 3 cups idli rice and 1 cup white urad dal and 1 tsp methi seeds separately (the methi seeds with the dal) with several cups of water for 24 hours

Strain the dal and rice and grind them separately. I use my table top granite grinder for this but a blender works too. The dal and methi should be ground very fine with a little water. The rice should be ground till it is the consistency of coarse sooji or grits. Mix the two, cover and let it ferment for 8-24 hours. This is very variable, it takes 24 hours for me in Nebraska in my oven on a proofing setting. The final dosa batter should smell sour and have fine bubbles all through the batter.

Alternatively – buy the batter from the Indian store

Spread batter on pan, cover with a lid till top is cooked and bottom is golden brown. Add a tsp of oil around the dosa while it’s cooking.

Masala:

Boil and peel 3 large russet potatoes and chop them into inch squares (about 1-2 cups). Slice half a large onion into long slivers (half a cup)

Heat 2 tbsp of oil, add half a tsp of mustard seeds, wait till they cackle and pop. Add half a tsp of cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, half a tsp of turmeric, 1 tbsp of whole urad dal and 8-9 finely chopped curry leaves. Wait till the urad dal turns golden

Add the onions and cook till pale brown. Add 1 tbsp of ginger , ¼ cup of chopped cashews- cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the potatoes and one large jalapeño chili (I slice it in half but go ahead and chop it fine if you wish), half a cup of water and 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro.

So far this recipe is very traditional. I then add a tbsp of finely chopped lime pickle. If it’s good enough for the Moroccans, it’s good enough for me. The lime pickle permeates the whole masala with a fantastic umami zing. Cook for 10 minutes more . Top with another 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro

I serve the masala on the side rather than stuffed into the dosa. I find that the dosa keeps its crunch better.

Many of these ingredients are very Indian specific. They are all available online but your neighborhood Indian store is a much better resource.