D as in Dosa Kudumbam (Dosai Family)

Dosa is an authentic south Indian dish which is usually served as a breakfast. It is crispiest and tastiest breakfast. It is made with rice and the oil is the main ingredient of it. Dosas were originated in Tamil nadu and later it spread in other southern parts. It has gone to the northern parts of India and crossed oceans which has reached all the food lovers across the globe. “Where there is Dosa there is life”.

There are so many varieties of Dosa and here I’m presenting three varieties. Hence, the title- Dosa Kudumbam meaning Dosai family. 🙂

a. Plain Dosa:

Ingredients include 2 cups of fermented dosa batter, 1/2 cups of water, 2 tbsp of gingelly oil. 

Add enough water to the fermented batter until you have a smooth, pouring consistency. Make sure the batter is not too watery though, it should be thick-ish but fall off your spoon easily. Heat a tawa or iron griddle and grease with the oil lightly. Pour about 1/2 ladle of batter to the centre of the tawa. Using the back of your ladle, gently spread the batter with a circular motion from the centre towards the sides of the tawa. This requires some practice but is not hard at all. I’ve drawn enough amount of “World maps” before. Drizzle about 1 tsp of oil around the edges of the dosa and add a few sprinkles on the top as well. When the edge of the dosa starts to come off the pan, flip it over. Cook the other side for another 40 seconds or so and remove from pan.

b.Set Dosa:

Ingredients and method remain the same as that of Plain dosa. Here, the batter is spread to get a 5 mm thick dosa. So, they are thick, fluffy, spongy and small dosas. These were my favourites when I was a child. If you are the lover of crispy dosa then these dosas are not meant for you, just like my Mom- She never liked the thick ones. Her favourite is the next- Paper dosa. Anyway, here you can cover and cook the dosas till one side is golden brown. They are served in sets of two or three, hence the name. 🙂

c. Paper Dosa:

It is called as family dosa, because when required, the size of paper dosa can be a full length of a family sitting. Quantity and size wise it is the longest. The taste is more or like a plain dosa. But the thickness of the dosa is very little which leads to crispy taste. Here, a ladle full of the batter is poured on the pan and is spread in a circular motion to make a 225 mm. (9”) diameter thin circle. Little ghee is smeared over it and along the edges and cooked on a high flame till the dosa turns brown in colour and crisp. You can either fold over to make a semi-circle or a roll.

d. Spring Dosa:

Spring Dosa is little unique from normal dosa recipes. You can choose your favorite vegetables and stuff it in a normal dosa with a little twist. It can generallybe made for breakfast or sometimes even as a evening snack dish.

Ingredients include: 2 cups dosa batter, 1/2 cup cabbage finely chopped / grated, 2 small onions finely chopped /grated, Few onion rings, 1/2 carrot (peeled and thinly sliced), 1 big capsicum thinly sliced, 2 green chillies thinly sliced, 4 tbsp butter, Oil or ghee for frying, Chaat masala to sprinkle, Salt to taste

Make a medium thick round of dosa. Drizzle some oil and cook on one side at low flame. Spread a tsp of butter and leave for few seconds to get cooked. In the meantime, saute the veggies in a non-stick pan. Add chaat masala poder and salt to taste. Spread the chopped vegetables and green chillies. Sprinkle some chaat masala all over and cook till dosa is well done. Roll and cut into desired pieces for serving.

That’s Chicken curry which is served along with Dosa. Oh, I know, Dosas are served with Chutneys or Sambar. But, P and I love with Chicken Curry. Try, you would love it too… ❤

There are other yummy varieties like Uthappam which I have already posted before. You can take a look if interested. 🙂 I’ve made Uthappams in  three different tastes- Onion Uthappam, Tomato-Onion Uthappam and Carrot Uthappam.

Another one would be Masala Dosa: I never liked it growing up. I would always told Mom that I want masala dosa without the filling and she would promptly order me a paper dosa which I’d happily tuck in. 😛 I’m still the same as Im not a fan of the potato bhaji which is stuffed in. I just asked P whether this is his favourite. Thankfully no. 🙂 We do have similar taste! Lol. But I know there are a lot of people out there who crave for it. So, will try making some other time.