Dosa

Preeti, a senior of mine from University, invited me over to her place soon after I got married. I hadn't yet moved to join S in Gurgaon at the time. She was telling me a lot about managing a kitchen and work. I told her that Amma had asked me to take the Ultra Grind tabletop grinder with me to Gurgaon and that I thought it was a waste. I am not the idli-dosa batter making type. She told me to shut up and just carry it along as having dosa batter in the fridge meant that you'll never go hungry.

I am yet to operate the Ultra Grind on my own, but I use my mixer to make dosa batter and while the batter doesn't become as voluminous, the dosas look and taste quite the same. And I can't agree more with Preeti. Having dosa batter in the fridge means that a quick meal is possible at any time of the day. That too when I have a series of thokkus and podis in the pantry.

I don't allow my batter to sour as I love my dosas that way. In fact, I am one of those who can have dosas made out of fresh batter. It's one of those temptations that I cannot resist.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Urad

1 cup Rice (Boiled or Raw)

1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Wash the urad and rice. Add the fenugreek seeds and soak in plenty of water overnight. (At least 4-5 hours). Wash well and grind using a little water. Add salt and water to dilute it as required. (Don't add too much water as the dosas will not turn out well.)

Heat a tawa and smear a little oil on it. Simmer the flame and pour a ladleful of the batter in the centre of the tawa. Quickly spread the batter while forming concentric circles (spiral actually!).

Add a little oil on the sides and centre. Usually not more than 1 small spoonful per dosa. When crisp, carefully turn the dosa over and allow the other side to cook a little (this is not done in restaurants, but I prefer to turn my dosas and toast them on both sides).

Turn the dosa back and fold in half. Serve with chutney, sambar, or molaga podi or a combination of all these.