Homestyle Dosas With Tomato Chutney Recipes

Steps:

• Dosa batter
• The morning before you make your batter, rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water, until water runs almost clear. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with 4 cups cold water. If your tap water is heavily chlorinated, use filtered water for soaking as chlorine will inhibit fermentation later on.
• Pick over dal for debris, then rinse in sieve under cold running water. Transfer to a medium bowl and add fenugreek. Cover with 2 cups cold water (again using filtered if needed). Let rice and dal soak at least 8 hours and up to 10 hours.
• Drain rice, holding back grains with your hand and pouring off most of the soaking liquid into a pitcher or large measuring glass. Transfer rice to a blender. Pulse to get things going, then purée, sparingly adding soaking liquid as needed, until a paste forms (mixture should be foamy and still slightly gritty when rubbed between your fingers). Pour into a clean large bowl. Repeat process with dal mixture, then vigorously stir blended dal into rice paste.
• Add reserved soaking liquid as needed to create a pourable batter that falls off the spoon in a steady stream and gradually dissolves into itself. Stir in salt. (If you are in a warm climate, add salt after fermentation to keep batter from becoming overly sour.) Cover bowl with a kitchen towel, then a silicone lid (this will keep the surface of the batter from drying out). Set bowl in a warm spot (a proofing box or an oven with the light on and a bowl of hot water placed inside work well). Let batter sit until airy and pleasantly sour (when you drizzle it from a spoon, it should fall on itself in slowly dissolving ribbons), 4-6 hours in a very warm environment and as long as 2 days in a very cool environment. In general, 14 hours is a safe starting point.
• Do ahead: Batter can be made 1 week ahead. Once fermented, cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before cooking. Thin with water if needed to reach a thick but pourable consistency.
• Chutney and assembly
• Heat 2 tsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add green chiles and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, add tomatoes and any juices and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are tender, 7-9 minutes. Carefully transfer to clean blender or a food processor and blend until smooth; reserve skillet. Taste chutney and season with more salt if needed. Transfer to a small bowl.
• Wipe out reserved skillet and heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in skillet over medium. Cook mustard seeds, stirring constantly, until they start to pop, about 30 seconds. Add curry leaves, dried red chile, and dal and cook, stirring occasionally, until curry leaves wilt and crisp and dal is starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Mix in asafoetida, if using, and remove spice oil from heat. Mix into chutney.
• To cook dosas, heat a griddle or large skillet (the larger the better; you want the batter to have room to spread) over medium. Sprinkle a little water on surface; if it sizzles you're good to go. (It's important though not to let griddle get hotter than medium. If it's too hot, the batter will start to cook before it's fully spread out, yielding a thick dosa, or worse, a thin dosa that tears. Adjust heat as needed). Brush griddle with a thin layer of ghee, wiping off excess with a folded paper towel. Ladle a generous ⅓-cupful of batter in the center of griddle and use ladle to spread batter, working outward in continuous circles and never lifting ladle off surface, to create an 8"-diameter round. Ridges of thick and thin batter will form naturally. Cook dosa 30 seconds, then drizzle ⅛ tsp. ghee over batter. For a spongier dosa, cover with a large bowl and steam until cooked through, about 2 minutes (cooked underside should show through thinner spots, and thicker spots should be opaque and bouncy). For a drier dosa, cook until surface is mostly set, about 2 minutes, then, using a fish spatula or other wide spatula, flip dosa over (it should easily lift from the griddle at this point) and cook until second side is lightly golden, about 20 seconds. Fold dosa in half so toasted side is facing out and transfer to a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter and ghee.
• Serve dosas as they are ready with chutney alongside for dipping.

Steps:

• Rinse the lentils well in cold water and drain. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl, add the fenugreek seeds and 2 cups water and let soak at room temperature for a minimum of 4 hours and up to 8 hours.
• Drain the mixture and add to a blender with 3/4 cup fresh water. Blend until creamy with an ever-so-slight grittiness.
• Pour this mixture back into the large mixing bowl and add the rice flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and enough water so it is the consistency of pancake batter. Mix well until evenly mixed and no lumps are remaining. Cover and let ferment until the batter has tiny bubbles, is frothy and has increased in volume, 12 to 36 hours (depending on the weather; see Cook's Note).
• Add another 1/2 teaspoon salt to the batter and mix well. The final batter should not be too thin or thick; if it's too thick, add a little water, just enough to make the batter spreadable. A very runny batter will not result in crisp dosas, but a very thick batter will not be easy to spread. If the batter is very thin, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of rice flour to thicken. Transfer to an airtight quart container. This mixture will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
• To make dosas: Heat a nonstick pan or well-seasoned cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. (If your pan is not nonstick, rub a little oil into it. A nice traditional way of doing this is by using the flat side of half an onion.)
• Pour about 1/4 cup batter in the center of the pan and with the back of the ladle or the back of a small heatproof bowl or katori, spread it from the center outwards in concentric circles by applying a gentle pressure. Don't worry if the batter does not spread very evenly. I prefer a little unevenness as that way parts of the dosa are crisp and parts are soft. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil around the rim of the dosa and let the dosa cook until it becomes crisp on the thin parts and you can see it turning light brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the filling of your choice (if filling) to half of the dosa. With a metal or non-stick turner, flip the other half over and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Dosas are best eaten right away. Serve with Easy Tomato Chutney, if desired.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot and shimmering, add the mustard seeds. They should pop immediately. Lower the heat to medium and add the lentils, red pepper flakes and curry leaves if using. Be careful, as the curry leaves will sputter. Cook, stirring often, until the lentils turn golden brown, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook until it just starts sizzling; you do not want it to brown. Add the tomatoes, turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Increase the heat to medium high, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes.
• Add the jaggery or raw sugar and tamarind paste and cook until well mixed and the sugar has melted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from the heat and add the roasted sesame oil to finish, if using.
• Once cool, transfer the chutney to an airtight container and refrigerate. This chutney will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.