I had dosai batter coming out of my ears this weekend, thanks to my mom’s foresight and planning. That probably didn’t sound the way it was supposed to, but I mean that in a very nice way, actually. She just went back to visit India so she made sure she stocked my fridge with idli and dosa batter for those evenings when I could have a quick dosa dinner after work. Because she realizes that after almost 8 months of being here with me, I’ve had to re-learn things including quick dinners on weekdays. Not that I didn’t cook when she was here (it was mostly on the weekends to try out new recipes). Just in case you wonder why my posts were still not that frequent. All right, I’ve been busted. Excuses, excuses.
So I got around to making aloo masaal (spiced mashed potatoes with onions), spicy red chutney and was all set to make Pondicherry Masala Dosai. I’ve also heard this being called Mysore Masala Dosai. But I got this name from a chef at a restaurant in Plano, where I live. I’m not sure if this restaurant still exists so I will leave the name out, but this was a dish on their menu. When asked about the name, he said he used to live in Pondicherry and just learnt the recipe there so dedicates the dish to the name.
And so I tried this for the first time and it was so good that I decided to call this Pondicherry Masala Dosa as well:)
Ingredients:
Dosa batter – 2 cups (for about 15 dosas)
For aloo masaal:
Potatoes – 4
Onions (red or yellow) – 1 large
Green chilies – 4-5
Ginger, crushed – 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal (black gram dal) – 1/2 tsp
Chana dal (bengal gram dal) – 1/2 tsp
Peanut oil – 1 tsp
Cilantro, curry leaves, a few sprigs, chopped
Method for aloo masala –
1. Heat the oil in a kadai or heavy bottomed fry pan.
2. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. After it starts to splutter, add the urad dal and chana dal.
3. Add ginger, onions, curry leaves and fry well till the onions become transparent.
3. In the meantime, boil the potatoes and mash them well.
4. Add the mashed potatoes to the oil. Add turmeric, salt and mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes, add cilantro.
Spicy red Chutney
Ingredients:
Dry red chilies – 10-12
Garlic pods – 2
Red bell pepper – 1/4 chopped into pieces
Tamarind paste – 1/2 tsp
Grind all the above in a blender with some salt and keep aside.
Method for Pondicherry Masala Dosai
1. Heat a flat griddle and add a tsp of oil.
2. Spread the dosa batter with a ladle on the heated griddle or tawa. Add another 1/2 tsp of oil and let it cook on the griddle. When it is half cooked or when brown/red spots start appearing, spread the spicy red chutney on the dosai.
3. Now heap the potato masala in the center of the dosai and fold the dosai. Let it cook for a minute more and gently take it off the tawa onto a plate. Serve hot with sambar.
