Ingredients:
for the dosa batter:
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup moong dal flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup yogurt
1 small onion, minced
1-3 green chilies, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
6 curry leaves, minced
for the potato masala filling
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, skinned and diced
1 large onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-3 green chiles, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 teaspoon amchoor (green mango powder)
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons oil
Directions:
For the dosas:
Whisk all ingredients together. The batter should be quite thin like pancake batter. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, while you make the filling.
For the filling:
Saute mustard seeds and jeera in oil for 2-3 minutes until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Add onions, garlic, ginger, and chiles and saute 5-10 minutes until the begin to turn golden. Add potatoes, amchoor powder, salt, garam masala, and turmeric. Saute for 5 minutes until spices are fragrant. Add water, cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to break with a spoon and most of the water has been absorbed. Turn heat off and mash potatoes.
Making the dosa:
To a hot non-stick skillet or crepe pan, add a teaspoon of oil and a large ladle full of batter. Tilt and turn the pan to spread the batter into a thin layer. When the top starts to cook around the edges, run a pancake turner underneath it to loosen the dosa. After about 2 minutes, flip the pancake and cook 2 minutes on the other side. Both sides should be golden brown. Flip onto a plate, scoop some potato filling into the center and fold the pancake over to form a half-moon.
Yield: 4 filled dosas.
My thoughts:
When he found me at a loss as to what to make for dinner tonight, Matt came to the rescue and made this yummy dish. For these dosas he used moong dal flour as a sort of short cut-skipping the whole soak the dal and grind it up method. It came out really well, and sped the dosa making time up of this not quite traditional treat considerably. I especially loved the potato filling. I could eat a whole bowl of it. We made extra to stuff in naan tomorrow and I can’t wait.
Now I’m craving my mom’s dosa. Good thing I’m going to my parents’ house on Friday!
This is definitely an utthapam – utthapams are somewhat thick and have yogurt and spices in the batter, whereas dosa are super thin and crispy and the batter is made solely of fermented ground dal and water and rice flour.
A tip on the masala – South Indians never ever use garlic or amchur in any of their cooking – those are strictly used in the North.
Well, we make it how we like it-we’re the ones who have to eat it after all! We like garlic and amchur and this is also the way that our friends from Banglore (and their moms!) make masala.
We’ve made masala the “traditional” way hundreds of times, it is good to change things up a bit.
And isn’t uthappam basically a variation of a dosa? This is sort of a hybrid between the two-I normally don’t stuff my uthappam but I would stuff a dosa.
I think I have lived a sheltered life – at least culinary speaking. I have never had anything like this, but I want to try it out. It sounds delicious!
Sorry if that came of sounding snitty – not at all my intent!
I’m South Indian and was raised on this stuff, so I was just commenting on the authenticity of it. It’s good to change things up – and I have been known to make not-so-standard variants of my mom’s food at which she would be shocked!
oh i love dosas… its been a long time…. and i happen to have a lot of potatoes around right now… hmmm
wow this sounds fantastic! yuuuuum
reading food blogs at lunch time is dangerouuusss especially on an empty stomach!
I’ve loved dosa ever since I was a kid. Our family would eat at Diwana in Drummond Street and we’d all share enormous masala dosas. We’d always stop by Ambala sweet shop which is right opposite and pick up some burfi, carrot cake and ras malai for the way home.
This looks great! I have so been craving Indian food. In my new area (metro Atlanta) there are sooo many Indian restaurants that I just can not wait to try (trying to save $$ though until we close on our new house).
Just a comment on South Indian cooking, maybe my relatives are “nontraditional” but my mother in law is from Kerala and she puts garlic in just about everything!
Your dosa looks absolutely delicious.
I just love spiced potatoes…
What you have given here is a Chila. The Rajasthani dish. Dosa’s are never made with mung dal. Its usually a combination of urad dal, rice and innumerable other variations like, wheat, ragi, etc.
Anon. I hate to argue, but I have seen imnumberable recipes for dosa using mung dal in respectable cookbooks, had them at restaurants and my friends in India also have made them this way. As I said, it is sort of a “short cut” and we have made them the “traditional” way dozens of times.
This all looks great.. especially the watermelon drink.. yum.. I love cooking/recipes..
Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Thank you for this great recipe! Correction to what RK said. South Indians differ in their cooking from region to region, state to state. Those of us from Mangalore do use dry mango powder and garlic in our cooking. In fact, garlic rasam, and sambhar flavoured with garlic etc. are quite big favourites in our these circles (as a change from the usual sambhar).