My world of baking and more.....: The No-Grind Dosa Batter!

(Adapted from Edible Garden: Dosa Batter With Urad Flour & Rice Flour (No-Grind Dosa Batter Recipe))

Idlis and dosas are one of my most favorite vegetarian food. Once a week, I cursorily have a vegetarian day. This is quite a feat for a fishivorous me! The designated day being Saturday, I start having strong cravings for crispy, crunchy dosas. Masala dosas are superhit any day with me and my hubby man.

Recently, I came across a very easy breakfast dish called Appe. Appe is mostly a breakfast dish from the coastal regions of South India. These small fried dumplings can be made from dosa batter.

Appes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. My little S really loves them! I even went ahead and bought a Appe Patra to make them.

This Friday, I was all geared up to make dosa batter, when my mixer/grinder conked off! Sorely disappointed, I turned to the Net for some solution.
Lo and behold! I found a recipe for instant dosa batter using rice flour and urad dal flour on my fave blog Edible Garden. I found the recipe here. I also got another recipe from my super-talented friend Dassana's blog. You can find her recipe here.

This recipe is excellent for people who do not have a mixer/wet grinder. Or those like me who are too lazy and want a shortcut route to good dosa batter!

So, here goes the recipe:

For the dosa batter:

Rice flour: 3 cups

Urad dal flour: 1 cup

Salt: 2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Sesame oil/refined oil: 3-4 tsp approx

Procedure (for preparing Rice Appes):

1. Mix the urad dal and rice flour in a deep-bottom bowl. I used a stainless steeel bowl.

2. Add salt. Add enough water to make a lump-free batter. Keep covered in a warm/dry place for 8-10 hours/overnight. (I kept the bowl in my microwave.)

3. Next morning, take the batter out from the microwave. The batter will appear puffed up and there will be bubbles on the surface.

4. Now is the time to take out your Appe Patra. Here is mine:

5. Grease the Appe Patra with oil. Light the gas and keep the patra on the flame. After the pan heats up, add spoonfuls of the batter in each mould. Lower the flame and keep covered.

6. After 10-12 minutes, remove the cover. The undersides of the appes will appear golden-brown. Turn the appes using a fork so that the other side cooks as well.

7. Once both the sides have cooked well and appear golden-brown, remove the appes and place them on a plate. Savour these crunchy delicacies with any chutney of your choice. We had it with home-made onion-tomato chutney. My hubby added some sour curd to the chutney to give it a creamy consistency. 15 minutes from the pan to your table!

Now, for the dosa recipe. Here goes:

Ingredients:

For the potato stuffing:

2 big potatoes: boiled, peeled, mashed

1 onion: chopped

1 tomato: chopped

I small carrot: diced into small pieces

Ginger paste: 1/2 tsp

Turmeric: a pinch

Chilli powder: 1/4th tsp

Juice of a lemon: 1 tsp

For the tadka/tempering:

Black mustard seeds: a pinch

Curry leaves: 4-5

Green chilli: 1

Arhar/Toor dal: 1/2 tsp

Refined oil: 1 tsp

For the dosa:

Dosa batter: 2cups (recipe given above)

Oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a a non-stick pan. Add the tempering items. When you get a delicious aroma of the curry leaves, add onion. Stir for a while till the onions turn pink. Add the ginger paste and stir fry for a bit.

2. Add the carrots and tomatoes. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

3. Now add the mashed potatoes. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, and salt. Stir for a minute.

4. Add 1/4th cup water and let the curry simmer for a while. When the water dries up, add lime juice and remove from flame. Set aside to cool.

5. To prepare the dosa, heat a griddle/non-stick dosa pan. Rub with the half slice of an onion dipped in oil. This will grease the pan and leave a delicious aroma of the onion.

6. Add a ladle-full of batter in the middle of the pan. Spread in a circle using the back side of your ladle. Drizzle oil on the dosa.

Note: You can add water in order to thin the batter further. I added water to this batter and I had a bad time because the dosa stuck to the pan! However, when I used the batter as it is, no sticking! In case the dosa sticks to the pan, add a fistful of rice flour to the batter and mix it till lump-free. Your dosa will never stick to the pan!

7. When the dosa turns brown towards the edges, try to flip the dosa to the other side. When both sides have cooked, add a spoonful of the potato stuffing in the center of the dosa.