Daring Cooks: Indian Dosas

For the September 2009 Daring Cooks challenge, our host, Debyi from The Healthy Vegan Kitchen, decided on Indian Dosas from reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants by Ruth Tal. I ended up making mine out of whole wheat and all purpose flour, seasoned with onion flakes, garlic powder, and salt. They were thin, crispy, and delicious. For the filling, I opted for a mix of fresh tomatoes and thinly sliced onions. I made a chickpea filling, but used a canned curry sauce which ended up having an overwhlemingly strong fish sauce flavor. Fortunately my husband’s stomach can stand that kind of thing.

Indian Dosas: Equipment needed
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula

My Ingredients

1 cup flour 
salt to taste
garlic powder to taste
a dash of onion flakes
Add liquid until it forms a really loose batter (I used about 2 1/2 cups of water)

My Method
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the liquid, whisking until smooth.

1. Heat a heavy, cast iron skillet over medium heat. We use a plata that we’ve had since living in Arizona, and it is nicely seasoned, so I didn’t need much oil, just a little around the edges. I found a great video clip of a woman making dosas on Wikipedia that gave me an idea of how to make these. Scroll down the bottom to see the video.
2. Ladle 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’s golden and slightly crisp on the bottom, flip it over and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and  gently roll the pancake into a tube. You can put some filling in just before rolling. I’m used to eating these with a mildly spicy potato filling (which is how they serve it in my family’s favorite Indian restaurant). Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes. I used a mini ladle for this (it holds about 1/2 cup of batter) and cooked the dosas on medium high heat until they were crispy and golden brown. They still rolled up nicely, and had a nutty, chewy texture.