Instant Dosa with Sambar and Chutney

Instant Dosas

Ingredients for Dosa:
3 cups rice flour
2 ½ cups urad dal flour
1 tsp yeast
Salt to taste

Method:
Mix the rice flour & urad dal flour in a large bowl making sure to break up any lumps.

Add water to this to get the consistency of a batter. This should neither be too watery nor too thick. Mix well.

In a small bowl, add a tsp of yeast & add 2-3 tsp of warm water to this to make a paste.

Add this to the prepared dosa batter. Mix well. Allow it to stand in a warm spot for about an hour or so while the yeast goes about doing its business. (I usually leave this in my oven on the “warm” setting).

After fermentation for an hour, the batter rises significantly. Mix well. Add the required amount of salt, mix again & now you are ready to go ahead and make your dosas!

For step by step pictures and instructions on how to make dosas, please see this.

Serve hot dosas with some sambar & chutney
Tip:
* Keep the vessel containing the batter on a very large plate while it is in the oven so that it does not spill over as it rises. I learnt this the hard way :-(

*Use a cast-iron pan. It gives excellent results when compared to a regular non-stick pan.

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients for coconut chutney:
2 cups fresh, grated coconut (I use the frozen one)
3-4 red chillies
1 Tbsp peanuts
2 shallots
¼ tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp Oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
2-3 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind all the ingredients for the chutney to a smooth paste using very little water.

Heat the oil in a small pan & add all the ingredients for seasoning.

Add this to the chutney. Mix well.Heat for a minute or so.
This chutney is not cooked & hence does not last for more than a day or two.

Sambar

Sambar can be made in different ways using a variety of vegetables. This was how I made mine.
Ingredients for Sambar:
1 cup toor dal
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped in big pieces
4-5 drumsticks (I used the frozen ones & thawed them before use)
½ tsp tamarind paste
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 ½ -2 tsp sambar powder
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste.

For the seasoning:
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
2-3 red chillies
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida/hing

Method:
Cook the dal until soft & mushy and keep aside.

In a pan, heat the oil and add the ingredients for seasoning in the order listed above.

Add the chopped onions, sauté for a bit. Add the tomatoes, cook for a minute or two and then add the drumsticks.

Add the chilli, coriander, sambar & turmeric powders & mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes allowing all the flavors to blend in before adding the tamarind paste. Cook for another 2 minutes.

To the vegetable mixture, add the cooked dal and blend well adding the desired amounts of water to get the right consistency.

Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Serve hot.