BATTER — N°05
Crisp Dosa at Home
TIME
25 min
YIELD
Makes 8
LEVEL
Takes a little practice
Everyone blames the batter for a dosa that tears or sticks. It is almost never the batter — it is the pan, and the temperature of the pan, and how thin the batter is when it hits it. Get those three right and the same batter that made your idlis will give you a dosa you can hear.
INGREDIENTS
- Fresh dosa batter
- Water, to thin
- Oil or ghee
- Half an onion, for seasoning the pan
METHOD
- 01Thin the batter with a little water until it pours in a smooth ribbon — looser than idli batter, closer to cream.
- 02Heat the tawa until a few drops of water skitter across it and vanish. Too cool and the dosa sticks; too hot and it will not spread.
- 03Rub the pan with the cut onion dipped in oil. This seasons it and is the oldest trick for stopping the first dosa sticking.
- 04Pour a ladle in the centre and spread outwards in one continuous spiral. Work quickly — once it starts setting, stop spreading.
- 05Drizzle a little oil around the edge. When the rim lifts and the underside is golden, fold it over and serve straight away.
ONE THING THAT MATTERS
The first dosa is a sacrifice — it seasons the pan. Every cook in every house throws the first one out. Yours is not going wrong.