Masala Dosai

Masala Dosai is a common breakfast/tiffin item in South India and has pervaded to places like Malaysia and Singapore where a lot of South-Indians have migrated decades earlier. It's a nice way to make the simple dosa(or dosai) a sumptuous meal with the addition of potatoes. Even foreigners to Indian cuisine (basically, non-Indians) like dosai so much that they even learn the art of dipping it in a pool of sambar and topping it with chutney and enjoying the delectable dish :) And yes, Indian cuisine is the fifth most preferred in the world by globetrotters according to a recent survey conducted on Hotels.com :) Italian cuisine, known for its pizzas and pastas, came in first, followed by French, Thai and Chinese.

As a child, I always loved paper-crisp dosas and masala dosas and still do. The art of making dosas comes only with practice. That being said, masala dosa is an easy way to spice up a not-so-good dosai :) You can also sneak in other veggies, like shredded carrots, green peas, and many more to the masala and make it healthier!

What I Used-

Potatoes - 4 (boiled)
Carrot - 1 (shredded)
Onions -1 cup (chopped)
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 4 (cut length-wise)
Besan (kadala maavu) - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

To temper-

Oil - 1.5 tsp
Mustard - 3/4 tsp
Jeera - 3/4 tsp
Urad dal - 3/4 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

How I Made It- 

• Take a kadai, do the tempering in that order. As always, allow oil to get heated then add mustard, allow it to splutter, then follow through the rest. 
• Add green chillies and ginger and fry for a minute.
• Add in the chopped onions and fry till they turn slightly pinkish.
• Mash 2 potatoes, cube the other 2 and add them. This is to ensure you have some mashed up potatoes to form a base but still can spot some in good shape.
• Add salt.
• Now goes the shredded carrots and then the green beans (I just microwave the frozen ones and then add).
• Mix everything well. When you feel it's going dry, just mix 2 tsp of besan in water (without lumps) and stir that in. This gives a gravyish texture to the masala. There you go! You just need to make the dosas and fill about 3-4 tbsp of masala to each dosa. Enjoy with sambar and/or chutney! :)

To Make Dosa Batter -

• Soak idly rice and urad dal, for 4 hours (I do it overnight, it's easier), in two separate bowls in the ratio of 3:1 
• Add 1-2 tsp of methi seeds (vendayam) to urad dal.
• Blend them to a smooth paste by adding water, little by little, as necessary, and get the required consistency.
• Add salt and allow it to ferment.
• Your home-made dosa batter is ready! :)

Do not forget to refrigerate it after 4-5 hours. You may have to add some more water if its gets too thick later.

If there's too much masala left over, get creative and make a quick sandwich for the next morning's breakfast or pack it for your tea-time snack :) I used multi-grain bread and it makes such a wholesome meal :)