Sunday, September 13, 2009

DARING COOKS CHALLENGE PART 2 - INDIAN DOSAS

As i have mentioned in my DARING COOKS CHALLENGE PART 1-INDIAN DOSAS I made dosas for the second time and challenged myself further to make a different kind of batter. I used the same filling and chutney so pls. check my Part 1 for the recipes. Yes, i made it again because we liked it.

I used AP flour with my first challenge and i was satisfied, this time i challenged myself to make my own batter from scratch, using the lentil/brown rice combination. It's definitely a make ahead thing. It took me 2 days to make the batter, from soaking both the lentil and brown rice to grinding them,to the fermentation.

The lentil/brown rice is way better. It had a nutty flavor and was crispy inspite of the coarse grind. I will grind my lentil and rice finer next time, maybe i can make the paper dosa! Nothing wrong w/ challenging myself again ha!ha!. It was worth doing this dish the second time around. Also i made aloo saag as a side dish.

I know there are a lot of versions to this kind of dosa batter, some calls for more than 2 kinds of grains and other ingredients. I decided to work on what i already have, brown rice and lentil.


Wash and rinse the grains. Fill each bowls w/ enough water to cover the grains. Cover the bowls and soak overnight.

Use a food process or use a blender to grind the grain mixture. Add little water. (I will be grinding this batter a little bit further to make the grains fine the next time i'll make this).

Cover and keep the batter in a warm place for fermentation about 5 hours. I kept mine beside the refrigerator. It should at least be foamy on the top. The batter should be ready for cooking or keep the rest in the ref for further use. Speaking of which, i still have extra batter in the ref waiting..i wonder how else could i use the batter aside from dosas. Suggestions will be appreciated.


Heat a nonstick pan or griddle with little canola oil until hot but not smoking. Pour a ladleful of batter and spread immediately into a circular motion just like you would a pancake or a crepe.
Flip the dosa over when the edges starts to curl up and turn golden.
Cook the other side for few more minutes.
The dosa should be crisp and golden in color.


These Dosas were crispy and has the nutty flavor. I prefer this than the AP flour batter.



I served my Part 2 Indian Dosa with Aloo Saag and Tandoori Chicken.







18 comments:

  1. Wow, maybe I should give this a second try with this batter, cause we didn't find the dosas to taste much. They were overpowered by the filling and the sauce (we had curried potatoes and plum & tomato chutney). This does look delicious! Congrats on a challenge well done!

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  2. Good to see the more authentic recipe ended up producing better results.

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  3. Now that is what I am talking about. Great job Pia.

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  4. hello kabayan :)

    kumusta!

    your dosas look yummy.

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  5. I love that you made your batter from scratch - it looks fantastic!!!

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  6. I love what you were able to do with this challenge. Your pictures are fantastic.

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  7. Pia,
    This looks like a lot of work, but beautiful! I love to do my own curies also. I have read the Best of India Curries.

    Aloha, my friend ♥
    Marilyn

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  8. Erin from Long IslandSeptember 14, 2009 at 8:18 PM

    Oh Pia! You know the way to my heart. I can't understand why the Daring Cooks would want to omit this and use a flour-based dosa recipe. Using a fermented batter is the whole point!

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  9. hi, Jenny. Thanks! I think you'll appreciate the dosas more if you make the batter by using lentil and rice batter. No regrets making this batter from scratch.

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  10. Thanks, Robert! You were partly to be blamed=;)...i got the inspiration from you, making stuff from scratch as much as possible. It was well worth doing the challenge the 2nd time and w/ the right batter.

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  11. Hi, Olive! Thanks so much my kababayan!

    Kumusta?

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  12. Thanks, Jen! It was well worth the 2 day process. It did challenge my patience as well=;)

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  13. Thanks, Mary! I like this batter better. I do have some batter left in the ref..no idea what i can make out of it other than dosas.

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  14. Hi, Marilyn! Thanks so much! It is a lot if you will do this in a day. I made my fillings and chutney a day before and the dosas on the day of well that was my first batter, For the second batter, i had my fillings and chutney ready. I love both dosas but i prefer the lentil/rice batter.

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  15. Hello, Erin! I knew you'll love this. Actually it was the hostess choice. Her recipe called for spelt,GF flour or AP. Spelt was out of the question..it was expensive considering i won't be using them after this challenge, GF flour, i wasn't interested hence the AP. It was okay but ofcourse the "almost" authentic batter was way better. Thanks for the visit Erin!

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  16. Erin from Long IslandSeptember 15, 2009 at 8:05 PM

    if you still have extra batter, you could make idilis or pous it a little thicker and add in minced veggies for veggie uttapam

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  17. I'm so impressed and inspired that you tried the traditional batter too!

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