Multi-grain dosa

Golden crispy yum

A must have breakfast item. Starts the day beautifully.

Makes enough dosas for a medium family

Parboiled rice 2 cups

Urad dal 2/3 cup (Kolai dal, uddin bele, Vigna Mungo skinned and split)

Cholar dal 1/3 cup (Split bengal gram)

Green Mung 1/3 cup (Mung bean, Vigna radiata)

Masur dal 1/3 cup (lentil, Lens Culinaris)

Fenugreek 1/2 tbsp

Salt 1/2 tbsp

Cooking Soda 1/2 tsp

Ghee or butter

Oil for frying

Ingredients

This dish requires parboiled rice. Widely consumed in the Indian states of Kerala and West Bengal. The urad dal (Vigna Mungo) should be white and should not have the black skin. I use the red variety of Masur dal.

Prep

Soak all the ingredients except salt and cooking soda for 6-8 hours. Grind to a very fine and thick consistency. When you run your fingers through the batter you should not be able to feel any grain. Also when dropped from a height it should fall in a thick ribbon.

Stir in the cooking soda. Let it stand overnight to ferment. This totally depends on the weather in your place. In Kolkata summers where night temperatures are close to 30 C it takes around 5-6 hours to ferment. When around 25 C it takes nearly 8 hours. We do not make dosa in winter (10 C temperature) as the batter does not ferment. When fermented the batter will rise significantly.

Ready

First add the salt.

Now the cooking part. This will require a bit of practice and you may not be able to get it right  the first time. The main part is the pressure when you spread out the batter. It should be enough to spread it out but not as much as to drag the batter along with the ladle.

Heat a flat pan and spread a few drops of oil.

There are mainly six steps.

1. Use half an onion pricked at the end of a fork to clean the pan. Dip in water and rub the pan clean. 
   
2. Spread the batter evenly on the pan. Some people like their dosa thick some like it thin. Also remember while spreading your batter the pan should not be super hot. So you may want to use a bit more water while cleaning the pan in step 1.
   
3. Spread a spoonful of oil
   
4. Flatten the grooves with a spatula
   
5. When nicely roasted and the edges are brown, turn. To turn you may have to dip the spatula in water and scrape the edges out.
   
6. Apply ghee or butter
   

The whole process is demonstrated in the following video.

Serve hot with coconut chutney, peanut chutney, plain sambar and chutney powder.

Enjoy a few, this is not a restaurant you can serve yourself more than one dosa.

Plain Sambar

A delightful accompaniment

A light must have accompaniment to South Indian dishes.

Toor dal 3/4 cup (Arhar dal, Pigeon peas, Cajanus Cajan)

Tomato 1 medium

Onion 1 medium

Sambar Powder 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Mustard 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek 5/6 grains (Methi)

Cumin 1 dash (1/8 tsp)

Asafoetida 1 pinch

Curry leaves 10 

Coriander 1 tbsp

Dry red chili 1

Vegetable oil 2 tbsp

Prep

Chop the tomato, onion and coriander leaves to fine pieces.

Wash the dal and cook it in a pressure cooker with the chopped tomato till cooked. I usually use 2 cups water.

Cool it. Mix the sambar powder.

Sambar

In a wok heat the oil. Add mustard, cumin, fenugreek, asafoetida, red chili and curry leaves. When it starts spluttering add the chopped onions. Saute till soft. Add the boiled dal to the spices. Check the consistency and add water to your liking. Add salt and coriander leaves. Let it boil for five minutes.

Serve hot with dosa, idli or plain rice.

Coconut chutney

Can accompany dosa, idli, uttapam and many other dishes

Grated coconut 3/4 cup
Roasted Bengal Gram 1 tbsp
Garlic 2 small pods
Tamarind 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Green chilli 2
Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

Mix all the ingredients and grind in a grinder to achieve a smooth consistency. Add water as necessary. It should not be a liquid but a thick honey like consistency (it will not be sticky).

Peanut Chutney

Can accompany dosa, idli, uttapam and many other dishes

Roasted Peanuts 3/4 cup

Garlic 2 pods

Onion 1/4 Small

Tamarind pulp 1/2 tsp (If unavailable use lime as substitute at the cost of taste)

Salt to taste

Sugar or jaggery 1/4 tsp

Mix all the ingredients and grind in a grinder to achieve a smooth consistency. Add water as necessary. It should not be a liquid but a thick honey like consistency (it will not be sticky).