Mini Masa Dosas Recipe

Directions:

1. For the potato filling:
2. 1. Boil the potatoes in plenty of hot, salted water until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. 2. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the asafoetida, curry leaves, onions, chillies, turmeric and ginger. Allow to cook on a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, lemon, and potatoes. Toss together and add the chopped coriander.
4. For the coriander chutney:
5. 1. In a large bowl, soak the coconut in the coconut milk and set aside.
6. 2. Meanwhile, blend together all other ingredients except the yogurt using a food processor or a pestle and mortar if you’re feeling energetic or have stress to relieve.
7. 3. Mix the blended ingredients with the soaked coconut and yogurt mixture.
8. For the batter:
9. 1. Mix together the rice, urad dal, channa dal and fenugreek seeds and wash 5-6 times in cold water.
10. 2. Place them in a large bowl and cover with warm water overnight or for at least 5 to 6 hours.
11. 3. After the soaking period discard the soaking water, reserving about 500ml.
12. 4. Place the soaked rice, dals and methi seeds in a blender/grinder, and blend to a thick paste. The consistency of the batter should be just so that it covers the back of a spoon. Add a little bit of the reserved soaking water to help with the blending/grinding process. Blend/grind the batter to a degree where it's grainy – this is what's going to make your dosas crispy.
13. 5. Place the dosa batter in an extra large bowl, and put the bowl on top of a tray to catch the batter the fermentation becomes too aggressive. Cover loosely and ferment overnight.
14. 6. The next day, add salt, asafoetida and bicarbonate of soda, whisk lightly. It is important to add salt at this stage and NOT before as salt retards the fermentation process.
15. After stacks of experimentation, I found that if you’re a novice and want to spread thin dosa, use a cold pan wiped with sunflower oil. The downside to this is that the colouring of the pancake is not as even as it would be if you used a hot pan.
16. To make the dosas:
17. 1. Heat a non-stick frying pan/hotplate, take half the onion which has been pierced with a fork and dip it lightly into the oil to grease the hotplate.
18. 2. Take half a ladle-full of the batter- we are using half because here, at KO Rasoi we like our dosas party-size and cute. If you want to make bigger dosas use a full ladle and spread a larger pancake.
19. 3. Spread the batter in a circular motion, starting from the inside swiftly.
20. 4. When the top becomes dry, take about a 1/4 tsp of oil and spread it gently over the dosa with the back of a spoon or spatula.
21. 5. When the back of the dosa catches a golden colour place about a spoonful of the chutney on top and spread it out. Then, add some of the potato mixture into the middle of the pancake and fold the dosa from one side and roll.
22. 6. Take the dosa off the pan/hotplate place on a plate and serve with coconut chutney.
23. TIPS:
24. If you’re feeling brave, try using a hot pan but ensure you spread very quickly and very evenly. Easier said than done – I know. With time the technique becomes much simpler to perfect. Here are 10 top tips:
25. 1. Always use a flat, non-stick pan with no ridges.
26. 2. Use half an onion, pierced onto the end of a fork to rub oil into your pan. It flavours your pancake and stops it from sticking.
27. 3. Pour your batter into the middle of the pan with a ladle, making concentric circles outwards to spread thinly and evenly.
28. 4. Using a cold pan? Leave the heat on high to warm up your pancake quickly. This may alter the colouring of the dosas.
29. 5. Using a hot pan? (Good for you!) Spread quickly, evenly and as thinly as possible over a medium heat.
30. 6. If your dosa are thicker than you’d like, try to spread them more thinly whilst on the heat, flattening as much as you can.
31. 7. When the top of the pancake dries out, spread it with some oil using the back of a spoon to stop it drying out completely. You could then place a lid over the top of the pan if you wanted to.
32. 8. When you start to see golden brown specks under the pancake, gently use a spatula to loosen the edges from underneath, ensuring it doesn’t break.
33. 9. When golden, flip and cook the dosa for 5-10 seconds on the other side. Flip back and spread the uncoloured side with chutney, add filling and roll.
34. 10. Keep remaining batter in the fridge for up to a week. You can use this to make uttapam (thick dosa with added vegetables – no need to roll).