Skip to main content

Just a Dosa


Are you sitting there scratching your head, wondering what I am doing blogging about a plain dosa. And not a very good one at that. Well, the thing is, I've wanted to try my hand at dosa making for quite a long time. That seemed to be the only way to get exactly what I wanted : crisp but not paper thin plain dosa. And finally, I did!

There's no recipe for this one, because it's made of store bought batter. That's one good thing about Bombay. Every store around here sells freshly ground idli and dosa batter, so you never need think about soaking and fermenting things for 2 days and what not.

It's pretty much instant. Buy the batter, drop a couple of tbsp on a heated nonstick griddle, spread it out as thin as a crepe, add a bit of oil, let it brown, then fold. Still to perfect the technique but the initial results were not too bad.
Labels:

Comments

Lebouffe said…
Thats quite nice.. Its easy to make yr own batter too :) But the shops are real convenient.. I love making dosas, thats one thing I make better than anyone at home, and they're almost always perfect -Naina
September 11, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Desisoccermom said…
Not too bad for a novice Simran. Here are a few unsolicited tips.
I too buy dosa batter from the store over here. One secret a Tamilian friend told me was to thin out the batter a little bit with water since it is too thick. That makes a thinner crepe. Plus, I usually make my dosa on a slightly oily and not too hot and not too cold non stick tava. Too hot makes the batter clump and too cold makes the dosa chewy.
September 11, 2009 at 11:16 AM
chef and her kitchen said…
I agree with u dear..every store sells dosa/idly batter here which is so convenient..but home made dosa's/idlies are definitey better than store bought ones right,wat say?????
September 11, 2009 at 11:16 AM
notyet100 said…
dosa looks so crisp and yum,.
September 11, 2009 at 1:49 PM
CurryLeaf said…
Looks crisp.Here I always grind it Simran.Right now I am in the middle of it.So tomorrows bfast is u know what
September 11, 2009 at 4:29 PM
lubnakarim06 said…
Hmmm simplified dosa procedure....looks crisp....
September 11, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Siri said…
It is likewise here too. Almost every Indian store in US has idli/dosa batter and it is very handy too! I use it all the time :)

Siri
September 11, 2009 at 6:24 PM
Srivalli said…
ehmm...I am still waiting for the day you will do that appam..:)..if you have the time and energy dosa is quite easy to make at home, unlike idlis which may result in hard ones if not done properly...

but store bought ones are so convenient no doubt..
September 12, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Debbie said…
Simran ... seeing your first time dosa gives me hope that a gal From Kansas, USA can make them too! You know I have been researching recipes. Thanks for the return email with all the suggestions! Debbie
September 12, 2009 at 7:45 PM
MamaFaMi said…
I love dosa or tosei as it is called in Malaysia...
September 29, 2009 at 7:32 AM
shayma said…
do you have an email address where we can write to you?
November 7, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but
10 comments
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru
14 comments
Read more

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o
13 comments
Read more