Saturday, September 12, 2009

DARING COOKS CHALLENGE (SEPTEMBER 2009) PART I- INDIAN DOSAS

This months challenge was hosted by DEBYI
This challenge is nothing new to me in the sense that Indian Cuisine is one of our favorite. We have probably dined at almost all the Indian restaurant/buffet near our area. Dosa is a staple, a must order food, but i have never made them at home. I always thought that they are too complicated to make and just thought of leaving the dosas to the experts.

That being said, if not because of this challenge i wouldn't have known that homemade dosas are well worth the process. I was too enthused with this challenge, i made them twice w/ different batter. So, thanks Debyi! Although i must admit, i was kind of iffy when you mentioned about the "restrictions"no meat products, strictly vegan. I had to compromise since i know my family will look for meat. I followed your vegan recipe and made a meat dish as a side dish. Take note...the meat was my side dish.

I will blog my two versions separately, just because it'll be too long to blog them all at ones. Plus i want to "showcase" each process. I used Debyis' filling and Chutney for both versions. The thing i did differently was the batter and my side dishes.


On my Dosa Challenge Part I, i made Mutton Rogan Josh as my side dish and finished it with Vermicelli Kheer. Pls. check the blogs for both.


Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)-I USED AP FLOUR
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut (I GRATED MY OWN, I WANTED TO USE FRESH COCONUT)
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch. (I ADDED A LITTLE BROTH COZ IT WAS DRY)
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans) (ONE CAN WOULD SUFFICE)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder (I USED 2 T SINCE I I HAD HOT CURRY POWDER- BUT IT WASN'T THAT HOT SO I WILL HAVE TO ADJUST NEXT TIME)
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
Happy eating!



Some of the ingredients. I love, love the Tomato tube paste...brilliant idea!






Cooking Basmati Rice is different than cooking a normal rice e.g. Jasmine rice.





Dosa Crepe/Pancake

I did a good job..didn't waste anything. First crepe was perfect.



Coconut Curry Sauce


This was not that hot/spicy, it's obvious based on the color. I had Hot Curry Powder, thought it will be too hot so tappered the measurement..boy was i wrong..it wasn't hot/spicy at all.






Curried Garbanzo Filling

This filling would be great for samosas as well.



Dosas with Basmati Rice




ENJOY!!!

15 comments:

  1. Wow, your first crepe really did come out perfect! We had a whole other experience with the dosa frying... LOL! Great job, and good to hear you liked this enough to make it twice!

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  2. Looks like you did quite well with the crepe, especially with a first attempt. Nice work! :)

    I found the heat to be quite mild through the whole dish, though I imagine part of that has to do with your selection of curry powder.

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  3. Looks delicious as always. I had a feeling this would be no problem for you.

    To answer your question presented in the forum, I did it twice as well. The first was a AP and whole wheat flour batter along the lines of the challenge recipe. Second was a more traditional rice and lentil fermented batter. I preferred the second more.

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  4. Congratulations for making a perfect dosa on the first try, i had to rescue several attempts. Yummy looking dosas!

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  5. Great idea to do a meat on the side. It looks like it all turned out beautifully.

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  6. Hi, Jenny! Thanks so much for checking out my challenge. It sure was challenging. I have conditioned myself that first crepe will not be good..i was glad i did good on my first try. I believe i had the perfect heat w/ a help of little oil. But the other batter was a different story tho'..i guess i miss to mention that in my blog=;)

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  7. Hello, Simon! Thank you very much for visiting my blog. I really thought the first crepe will be the tasting/trial one. Like i told Jenny might have been the right heat?

    I know, i too assumed it would be very spicy becoz of all the currys from the batter, filling and chutney hence the cut down of curry quantity. I did some adjustments on the coconut sauce on my second attempt and it came out okay.

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  8. Thanks, Robert! No..i did preconditioned myself that first crepe will fail. Altho' i have a special pan only used for crepes, esp. for my lumpia's and Vietnamese crepes, yes i'm that serious w/ my lumpia's, not even kidding. I will play w/ wheat batter next time.

    Like you, i prefer the lentil/rice batter as well.

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  9. Hi, Chef_D! Thanks so much for dropping by. I did used my special pan..special pan becoz it's only used for my fresh lumpia wrappers and Vietnamese crepe nothing else. I'd like to believe, the pan and the heat helped. But i was expecting the first crepe to fail.

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  10. Hello, Cheri! I personally would be happy w/ the Vegan dish but i know my family will say "where's the meat"?

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  11. Oh...Thank you for the visit, Cheri!!

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  12. awesome! the dosa looks fantastic! i have to learn how to make perfect crepes...

    well done!

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  13. Wow...your dosas turned out lovely,. Great photos and presentation! Very well done!

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  14. Hi, Raquel! Kumusta? Thanks you so much. This batter looks like making the fresh lumpia crepe. Thanks so much and can't wait for next months' challenge.

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  15. Hi,LisaMichele! Thanks! Wonder what's our next challenge will be=;)

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