Vidyarthi Bhavan Style Masala Dosa

A popular South-Indian dish, masala dosa is a delicious comfort food that you can have at any course of food. Though its origin lies in Karnataka, it is loved and savored all over the country and across the world as well. This particular dosa recipe of mine tastes exactly as Vidyarthi Bhavan, a restaurant in Bangalore. Its crispy yet soft texture is quite addictive and delicious. It is best served with coconut chutney and sambar.

INGREDIENTS:

For dosa batter:

• 2 cups raw rice
• 4 tbsp, urad dal
• 2 tbsp, toor dal
• 1/2 cup, puffed rice 
• 1 tsp, fenugreek seeds or methi seeds
• 3 tbsp, chiroti rava or fine semolina
• Salt 
• Water

For potato palya or stuffing:

• 4 medium sized potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 to 4 medium sized onions, finely chopped or diced
• 3 to 4 green chillies, finely chopped
• Few curry leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil

For red chutney:

• 3 to 4 tbsp fresh grated coconut
• 4 to 5 cloves, garlic
• 6 to 8 dry red chillies
• 1 tbsp fried gram or dalia 
• Pinch of tamarind
• Salt 
• Water

For making dosa:

• Oil 
• Ghee 

METHOD:

To make dosa batter:

1. Wash and soak raw rice, urad dal, toor dal, methi seeds for 4 hours.
2. Wash and soak puffed rice separately for about an hour.
3. Drain them and keep aside.
4. In a mixer grinder or a wet grinder, grind them together by adding sufficient water to make a smooth and fine dosa batter.
5. Ferment the batter for about 16 hours in a warm dry place.
6. Mix chiroti rava, salt and a pinch of sugar to the fermented batter before making dosa.

Note: If you live in a cold country where the fermentation process takes a longer time, my advice is to add salt to the batter after grinding itself so that it helps in better fermentation.

Another tip is to keep the batter vessel near the heater so that it helps in fermantation.

The best idea which I follow is to pre-heat the oven for 8 to 10 minutes and then place the vessel inside the oven so that it is warm and aids in better fermentation.

I usually let the batter ferment for about 20 hours for better dosa as I live in a cold country.

To make potato palya or stuffing:

1. Heat oil in a pan. When oil is heated add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
2. Add urad dal, channa dal, green chillies and curry leaves and saute it for a minute on a medium flame.
3. Now add the chopped onions and add salt and saute it well until it turns transparent.
4. Add the boiled and mashed potatoes, salt to taste and mix well.
5. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix and switch off the flame. Keep it aside.

To make red chutney:

1. In a small pan with a tsp of oil roast the garlic cloves, dry red chillies for a minute. 
2. Add it to the mixer jar with grated coconut, dalia, tamarind and salt.
3. Grind it by adding water necessarily to make a chutney to spread on the dosa.
4. Keep it aside in a bowl.

To make the masala dosa:

1. Heat an iron pan or a non-stick pan, the pan should be medium hot.
2. Keep the flame to low, spread the dosa batter in a circular way on the pan.
3. On a medium flame cook the dosa, sprinkle some oil on top and edges.
4. Spread a tbsp of red chutney from the center of the dosa. Add a tsp of ghee and let it cook.
5. Now place a portion of potato mixture in the center of the dosa.
6. Cook the dosa till its base becomes golden and crisp.
7. Now fold the dosa and add another spoon of ghee on top of the dosa and serve.
8. Serve the dosa hot with coconut chutney and sambar.