Dosas!

I love these beautiful South Indian savory-sweet lentil-rice pancakes with potato-coconut filling. I have eaten them twice this week. They are a salty, sweet, sour, crunchy dish. They're low-fat and filled with protein and unusual flavors. They're not especially prep-intensive but it takes foresight, as the grains need to soak overnight then ferment for a day. What's fascinating is how well the lentil and rice crepes stay together despite having absolutely no binding agent. I improvised the filling and chutney based on dosas I ate around the corner. The key was a spice mix I picked up at an Indian market. It's called Panch Puran, or Bengali spice mix, and contains fenugreek, fennel, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and nigella seeds. It's really pretty, too, with black and yellow seeds and greenish pods.

This recipe awakened my love of fenugreek and fennel. As a self-confirmed Enemy of Licorice, I never thought I'd enjoy either of these spices, but they really made the dish. It also reaffirmed my love of tamarind. You may think you've never eaten it, but it's the runny reddish-brown sauce that comes with samosas.

So, without further ado, here it is!

Dosa Batter:
Dosa batter is made of rice and lentils and can be bought in Indian markets like Shalimar in Central Square. I made my own and when I ran out, I used the store-bought kind too. Opinions were divided. My husband and I loved the sourness of the store-bought, which probably fermented more than we let ours ferment. This recipe doesn't have as much sourness but tastes somehow richer. It's absolutely essential (I learned the hard way) to make the batter much runnier than pancakes if you want a truly thin dosa.

Here. They look like crepes, but they're sour and crunchy:


3 cups rice
1 cup black lentils
water to cover
2 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
Soak rice and lentils overnight in a bowl with enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Blend mixture in blender until liquid. Let it ferment in a large bowl (it will increase in size) for about 8 hours. Add water to make it a runny consistency. To make pancakes, oil or spray pan lightly and ladle in. Swirl pan around to spread batter. There will be holes and that's ok. When you can see it browning and peeling from the pan, flip it with a spatula and cook another few minutes.

The Filling:

1 can chick peas
3-4 potatos, peeled and cut into very small chunks
onion to taste
kosher salt
panch puran
vegetable oil

Fry potatos in a few tablespoons oil and salt until they start to soften, about 20-30 minutes. Add onion and cook until soft. Add spices and chick peas and sautee several minutes.

Coconut Chutney
Mix all ingredients in bowl to form a thick paste:

approximately 1 cup dried unsweetened coconut
drizzle of water, for texture
2 tbsp tamarind paste

We tried all kinds of condiments with this: lime pickle, pepper jelly, papaya, and more.
Here's my friend Andrew loading it all on his dosa. He's several seconds away from dosa perfection.