Masala Dosa with Potato Bhaji
A ladle of batter meets an iron tawa and hisses. Two minutes later it lifts off thin, crisp and dark gold, folded over soft onion-potato bhaji.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1½ cups (330 g) idli rice or short-grain parboiled rice
- ½ cup (100 g) urad dal, whole or split
- 2 tbsp chana dal (1 tbsp for the batter, 1 tbsp for the bhaji)
- ¼ cup (35 g) thick poha (flattened rice)
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
- 1¼ tsp salt, for the batter
- 3 tbsp Cold Pressed Coconut Oil, for the bhaji and the tawa
- 2 tbsp Gir Cow's A2 Ghee, to finish the dosas
- 500 g potatoes (about 4 medium), boiled and roughly mashed
- 2 medium onions, sliced thin
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 3 green chillies, slit
- 1 tbsp ginger, chopped fine
- 1 sprig curry leaves (10 to 12 leaves)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)
- 1 tsp salt for the bhaji, or to taste
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Quantities are scaled up. Taste as you go and adjust the salt and spice.
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A tiffin room in Bengaluru at half past seven, and the same sound repeats every ninety seconds: a ladle of batter hitting a hot iron tawa, then the scrape of it being spread outward in one spiral. Oil goes round the edge, the dosa lifts at the sides on its own, three spoons of potato bhaji go down the middle, and it is folded and slid onto a plate with chutney and sambar. Nobody sits for long.
Wooden cold pressed coconut oil is what makes a dosa smell like a hotel dosa. Pressed from copra in a slow ghaani, it holds its sweet clean coconut smell, and it goes into the bhaji tadka and onto the tawa. Right at the end a little Gir Cow's A2 Ghee brushed around the edge takes the colour from gold to deep brown and gives the smell that pulls everyone to the table. Ours is bilona ghee from Gir cow milk.
The one thing that decides this dish is not your hand with the ladle, it is the fermentation. Eight to ten hours in a warm spot, until the batter has clearly risen, looks bubbly on top and smells pleasantly sour. In cold weather give it twelve. Batter that has not risen will never turn crisp, however hot the tawa gets.
How to make it
- Rinse the rice and poha together in 3 or 4 changes of water and soak in 3 cups water. In a separate bowl, rinse and soak the urad dal, 1 tbsp chana dal and the fenugreek seeds in 2 cups water. Leave both for 5 hours.
- Drain the urad dal, keeping the soaking water. Grind it first with about ½ cup of that water into a light, fluffy batter, in short bursts so the mixer does not heat up. Take it out into a big vessel.
- Now grind the rice and poha with about 1 cup water to a smooth batter with a faint grainy feel, like fine rava. Add it to the urad batter, add the salt, and mix well with your hand for a full minute. Your hand helps it ferment.
- Cover and leave in a warm spot for 8 to 10 hours, or overnight. It is ready when it has risen well, looks bubbly on top and smells gently sour. In cold weather keep it inside a switched-off oven with the light on, and give it 12 hours.
- For the bhaji, heat 2 tbsp Cold Pressed Coconut Oil in a kadhai. Crackle the mustard seeds, add 1 tbsp chana dal and fry 1 minute till golden. Add the onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Cook 4 to 5 minutes till the onions turn soft and see-through.
- Add the turmeric, hing and ½ cup water. Simmer 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and salt, mash lightly with the back of the spoon and cook 3 to 4 minutes till it comes together in a soft, moist mass. Stir in the coriander and keep aside.
- Stir the batter gently, without beating the air out. Add water a little at a time till it pours off the ladle in a smooth ribbon.
- Heat a cast iron tawa on medium till a few drops of water sizzle and dance. Rub it with half an onion dipped in coconut oil, then lower the flame. Pour a ladle in the centre and spread outwards in one steady spiral. Raise the flame to medium.
- Drizzle ½ tsp coconut oil and a little ghee around the edge. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, without flipping, till the base is golden brown and the edges lift on their own.
- Put 3 tbsp of the bhaji down the middle, fold the dosa over it, and slide it onto a plate. Serve straight away with coconut chutney and sambar. Wipe the tawa with a damp cloth before the next one.
Tips
- The most common mistake: spreading on a tawa that is too hot. The batter grips instantly and tears. Always drop the flame to low just before you pour, then raise it once the dosa is spread.
- Make ahead: the batter keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge and gets more sour each day. Take out only what you need and let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes. The bhaji keeps 2 days and reheats well with a splash of water.
- If your batter has thinned out after a day in the fridge, stir in 1 to 2 tbsp rice flour rather than more batter. It brings back the crispness.
- No cast iron tawa? A well-used non-stick one works, but keep the flame lower and expect a softer dosa. Never scrub a dosa tawa with steel wool, it loses its seasoning.
- For Mysore masala dosa, spread a thin layer of red garlic chutney on the dosa before the bhaji goes in.
