Dosa 101 with Coconut Chutney and Dosa Podi

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"So much to do, so little done, such things to be."

- Lord Alfred Tennyson 1809-1892, British Poet

For me, cooking is a journey where you have no idea whats gonna happen next?.. Confused??. I mean, one has no idea whether the *outcome* would be good or bad..in spite of that known, we always try .. put in our best to get the dish right..

...'Making a Dosa' is one such a thingy for me since a long time. . Hey, I always had these instant dosas.. which are so cool and damn easy. Though, I started *proper cooking* (..not bachelor cooking) just a couple of months back, I never dared to venture into the *DOSA* area.

What if the batter turns out too thin ?

What if they taste bad and I end up throwing up?

What if...

What if...

Thanks to Srivalli's Dosa Mela which pushed me to actually soak some rice and grind to make my first ever dosa...

....drumroll please...

Tada Tadah...Here I present people .. 'MY FIRST DOSA'... Yey Yey!!!



I was super happy when they turned out good and my happiness had no bounds when I put the first piece (dipped in coconut chutney) into my mouth..:D

Ok guys.. enuf of my rambling, I will get to the recipe first. my mom also sent me this amazing 'Dosa podi' recipe which tasted just out of this world..

Dosa Batter:
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3 cups of rice
1 cup split urad daal
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste

How to make:

1. Soak rice, urad dal with fenugreek seeds overnight.
2. Next morning, drain the water and grind to a smooth-slightly grainy paste, adding little amount of water.
3. Pour the paste into a bowl and add enough water to make a batter.
Consistency test: The batter should thickly coat a spoon dipped into it..:D
4. Now add salt and keep the batter aside, covered for an hour.
5. Heat a nonstick pan and spread the batter and make our usual dosas out of it!!
6. I served with some coconut chutney and dosa podi.

Coconut chutney:
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1 cup shredded coconut
2-3 Green chillies
1/4 cup Roasted Chickpeas (dalia/putnalu)
small Ginger very finely chopped

For tampering:

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp urad daal
2 dry red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Preparation:

1. Grind all the ingredients listed (except for 'Tampering) into a fine/coarse paste in a food processor. Add water if desired.
2. Heat oil in a small pan and add in the tampering ingredients.
3. Add to the coconut paste and stir the contents well.



Dosa Podi:
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1 cup Fried, skin removed Peanuts
1 cup Roasted Chickpeas (putnalu)
2 tbsp Fried Coriander seeds
2 tbsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds
3-4 Red Chillies
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt - to taste
2-3 Crushed dry garlic (for flavor)

How to make:

Mix all the above listed ingredients and Powder them into a coarse powder in a grinder. Store it in an air-tight container to stay fresh months.

Recipe Source: My Mom..:)



Hope you all enjoied my 'DOSA' adventure. Any suggestions/tips/tricks to make yummier dosas are always welcome. To keep safe them, I will update this post with ur tips. Being an amateur in making these, I would love to incorporate them next time around..:))



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Four Foods On Friday # 23

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I am all set to play my second 'Four Foods on Friday # 23' Meme where we answer 'Four' yummy questions posed by Valerie.

Here are this week's questions...

1) American cheese. Sliced fresh or prepackaged processed cheese product?

I love love 'cheese' of any form and type. and prefer pre-packaged American cheese singles as they are easy to store and manage. Pop in a slice of American cheese between two toasted bread slices.. Vollah.. U have an amazing Cheese Sandwich!!

2) What is your favorite cracker?

My favorite cracker is CROSTINI flavored with some garlic, hummus and bell peppers.. yummy..!! These a little Italian bread toasts usually served as appetizers. For a simple crostini recipe, click here.

3) What hot breakfast cereal do you like? Think oatmeal, farina, grits, etc.

I prefer having some apple-cinnamon oatmeal and cornflakes with hot milk as my breakfast..:D

4) Share a recipe that uses corn.

Corn Kebabs
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Ingredients:

1 cup cooked corn
2 medium-sized boiled potatoes
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Corn flour
Grated ginger and garlic - as per taste
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Allspice powder
Oil to fry
Fresh Coriander leaves

Preparation:

1. Mash all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Make small flattened (kebab-shaped) balls out of the mixture.
3. Heat oil and deep fry these kebabs.
4. Drain excess oil using a paper towel and Serve hot with ketchup!!

Wanna check out my first FFOF ...click here.

Enjoii and Have a great weekend ahead!!




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My favorite combination - Broad Beans n Eggplant !!

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This is probably *the best* combination of veggies I ever had ( Ok, I hear some saying - NO WAY!!. Some do have a love-hate relationship with this curry! ).
... But, I love the subtle and beany flavor of Indian broad beans ( a.k.a Chikkudukaya/ Surti lilva) combined with that of Eggplant, which gives a very different and distinct flavor to this dish. Believe me, ever since my mama made this dish for me ( probably when I was in my 5th standard...), the entire bowl of this curry made is JUST FOR ME...!!! After I came to US, I hardly could find some fresh beans, Thanks to *frozen food*, I quickly grabbed a pack of frozen beans last weekend and made my favorite curry, almost an year later...!! Served with hot rice and a dollop of ghee, the taste of this curry enhances multi fold...:DDD

Ingredients:

1 frozen pack of Indian Broad Beans
4-5 medium sized Eggplant
2-3 tsp Oil
2-3 cloves of Garlic
3/4 tsp Red Chilli powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Turmeric
fresh coriander leaves
3 tbsp grated coconut (optional, but enhances taste!)

For Tadka/Seasoning:

1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Urad dal
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
a pinch of hing/asafoetida
few red chillies



How to prepare:

1. Heat some oil in a pan, add in all the ingredients listed for 'Tadka' one by one until they splutter. Add the finely chopped garlic and saute until brown.
2. Then add in frozen beans ( which infuses some moisture into the curry) and let them cook for 2 mins until soft. Later, add the chopped eggplant and let the veggies cook for a while.
3. Season with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Mix the contents well.
4. Finally sprinkle some grated coconut over the top and cook for 2 more mins.



I served this dish with hot rice and spicy eggplant discs!! Yumm-O..:)

There are many variations to this curry, Some add jaggery, sesame seeds/powder, mustard powder etc etc. But, I like to have this basic curry as I don't want to add in stuff which can overpower the distinct taste of my beans!

I love the addition of garlic to this dish. So, off this goes to JFI: Garlic hosted by dear Mathy!

- Siri