Udipi Paan Polo/Soyi Polo/Neer Dosa With Cauliflower And Peas Kurma

BM#14: Day5:This is one of my favorite dosa recipe. It is so delicate like a butterfly wing. Stuff it into your mouth and it practically disintegrates. The base recipe is from here. So simple and splendid! Goes well with pretty much anything but I always eat this with Cauliflower and Peas Kurma,(recipe in this post as well). So you are getting a 2-in-1 recipe post today. :)

Ingredients:
For the Paan Polo/Neer Dosa:

• 1 Cup Short-grained Rice ( I use "Sona Masuri" or "Kolam Rice")
• 6-7 Grated Coconut Balls/Few pieces of fresh coconut without the brown rinds or 1/2 Cup Grated Coconut
• 2 Cups Water (For Mixing and Grinding)  + little more (if needed)
• 1/2 Tsp Salt

Procedure:

• If using coconut pieces, grate the coconut.

• Mix the soaked rice and grated coconut.

• Grind the rice + coconut mixture in a heavy-duty blender.

• The batter should be runny with bubbles on top.

• Heat a non-stick pan and using a mister spray "very little" oil. Don't overdo it. It makes the dosa slimy. Since it is very thin it doesn't need much.

• Once the pan is hot enough, take a ladle-ful of batter and pour.

• Quickly swirl the batter and cover all the empty spots with little batter.

• Lid the pan and cook for a minute or two on medium low. The edges lift off from the pan once it is cooked.

• Carefully lift the dosa, fold it and serve it hot with piping hot cauliflower and peas

Cauliflower And Green Peas Kurma:

Ingredients:

• 1 Head of Cauliflower, cleaned and cut into small florets
• 1/2 Cup Green Peas
• a handful of Chopped Green Bell Pepper
• 3 Ripe Roma Tomatoes
• a pinch of Turmeric Powder
• 1 Tbsp Coriander Powder
• 1" Cinnamon Stick
• 1/2 Tsp Fennel Seeds + 1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds, roughly ground in a mortar and pestle
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• a few grinds of Black Pepper 
• Oil as needed
• Salt as needed

For the Masala:

• 1 Medium Onion, roughly chopped
• 1" Ginger,peeled and chopped
• 4 Garlic cloves, skinned and halved
• 4 Hot Green Chilies or more/less
• 1 Stalk Curry Leaves
• a Handful of cashews

Procedure:

• Saute the masala ingredients until the onions are well and truly browned. Set aside to cool.

• Cut the cauliflower into florets.

• In a wide pan, add some oil, the ground spices, cinnamon stick. Once the spices are fried, add the tomatoes, T.powder and Coriander powder. Saute well and add little water. Let the tomatoes cook for about 5 minutes on medium flame.

• Add the cauliflower and ground masala.

• Throw in the green peas, add 2 cups water. Salt the mixture and let it cook for 12-15minutes on a medium flame.

• Add the milk and if needed, add more chili powder or pepper powder. Cook for 5 more minutes.

• The end result should look like the below pictures. Tender vegetables in a gravy that is not too runny nor too thick.

• Move the curry to a serving bowl.

• Serve it with hot Paan Polo/Neer Dosa.

Another favorite soft dosa is the Red Matta Rice Dosa "Sponge Dosa":

Enjoy!

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Avocado Dosa(i) + DC Cherry Blossoms

BM#14: Day4:  Last week I went all the way to Tidal Basin Park,Washington DC to gaze on the delicate and much revered Cherry Blossoms. This year is super special because Japan gifted those 3000+ CB trees to the US, a 100 years ago. So I was waiting for the Centennial celebrations and peaking of these flowers like a hawk watching and waiting for its prey.

The weather forecast wasn't so good. It said possible thunderstorms and a couple of showers. As "THE" day grew closer, I saw that there was going to be light rain. We(Me and my buddy) thought to ourselves that we can deal with light rain. But we were so wrong. The kids didn't care one bit about the trees and they wanted to run and play.They grumbled and it was infectious. Lil A wanted to jump in the puddles and he was pouting that he couldn't.It was depressing cause after driving for so long we couldn't stay or appreciate the beauty of those blossoms the way they deserved to be..Slowly but steadily the chill was creeping into our tired bones and in less than an hour we were ready to call it a day.It was a washout weekend.

So it was a good thing we didn't go there for the sole reason of gazing at CB trees. We went to the Murugan Temple and Siva-Vishnu Temple in Baltimore en route to DC. The visit had a calming effect on me. After putting innumerable petitions to god(basically unloading my emotional baggage and heartfelt desires to every single deity) I felt a little lighter. So it wasn't a total disaster but it could have been better..a lot better.

So here are some pictures that I took without any enthusiasm at all..The flowers were gorgeous.I wanted the Sun to come out from behind the clouds badly so I could take a few pictures.As you can see from the pictures,it was a hopeless wish.

Coming to the dosa topic, I usually add the avocado to the left-over dosa batter cause my son won't eat it otherwise. He is like a bean pole and I want him to put some weight. Since avocado is a packed with good fat(heart-healthy unsatured fat), I can't let my son have his way.He has to eat the avocado one way or another. We on the other hand like to eat the avocado with a little lime/lemon juice or guacamole with cucumber chips. The taste of the this dosa is good with the hint of the buttery avocado. The batter yields "soft dosa". 

Ingredients(For 6-8 Dosa, 2 per person):

• 2 to 3 Cups Dosa batter
• 1 Ripe Hass Avocado, peeled and stone removed
• 3 Hot Green Chili
• Salt as needed
• Water as needed

Procedure:

• Chop the Avocado and Chilies. Remove the seeds from the chili for less heat. Puree the Avocado along with the chilies. Add to the batter along with salt. Add water as needed. The batter shouldn't be runny. 

• Heat the griddle and pour a ladle-ful of batter. Spray oil around the edges and over the dosa. Cook one side for a minute on medium flame. Flip and cook the other side.

• Fold and serve it hot with any chutney of choice. 

I like my Avocado dosa with Tomato + Roasted Bengal Gram Chutney or Fiery Tomato Chutney-
Fiery Tomato Chutney-

Enjoy!

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Tomato Dosa "Thakkali Dosai"

BM14:Day3:  I had bookmarked this recipe from Rak's Kitchen. Had this in draft for a while now as well. Maybe I had waited this long to post for the "Dosa Theme". Love the color(reminds me of a bright spring top that is in the back of my closet raring to see the sun. :-)). Love the taste of this tangy dosa too. Plus points for the fact that this doesn't have to be fermented. So "batter-to-dosa" is possible within a matter of 30 minutes. Sweet!

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Idli Rice
• 2/3 Cup Red Poha, softened with little water
• 3 Large "Very Ripe" Tomatoes
• 1 tsp Red Chili powder 
• Salt as needed
• Water as needed
• Oil as needed for cooking the Dosa

To Season the batter:

• 2 tsp Olive Oil
• 3/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1/2 Tsp Fennel Seeds  (Optional)
• 1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds   (Optional)
• 1 tsp Split and Hulled Black Gram/Urad Dhal
• A pinch of asofoetida
• 1 Stalk Curry leaves, finely chopped  (Optional)
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion, finely chopped (optional but highly desired)

Procedure:

• Finely chop the tomatoes. Keep the other ingredients handy.

• Wash the soaked rice in 2-3 changes of water. 

• Grind the Rice + Poha + Tomatoes + Chili powder to a smooth paste with little water. The batter consistency should be a little runny than the usual Dosa batter. Add salt as needed. Season the batter with the ingredients under "Seasonings".

• Heat a griddle/Tava until it is hot and sizzles when water is sprinkled. Pour a ladle-ful of batter into the center and spread it into a nice circle. Drizzle a little oil around the edges and over the dosa. Place a dome lid over the top and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

• Flip and cook the other side.

• Fold and serve hot with any spicy chutney of choice. 

Enjoy!

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Plain Dosa/ Sada Dosa

BM14: Day2:  I can't believe I don't have the recipe for this "Omnipresent Dosa". Perhaps because I am taking it for granted as I have been eating it since..forever. TamilNadu, where I was born and brought-up until I moved to the US some 15+ yrs ago,  is well known around the world for its temples, hot weather, Idli and Dosa.

I can tell you plenty of things about dosa. But I am afraid that if I start I can go on and on. If I ask my Brother-In-Law he could tell a bigger tale since he ate dosa as breakfast for 5 years straight. Sister tried hard to convince him that there are other equally delicious, if not better options and now he "appears" to be convinced. He is willing to try oatmeal and croissants with marmalade. But they always have Dosa batter in the house. So do we. :). Dosa has a way of spinning some powerful magic on the taste-buds.

Ingredients:
For the Dosa Batter:

• 2 Cups Parboiled Rice +  1 Tsp Fenugreek Seeds , soaked overnight
• 2 Cups Raw Rice,soaked overnight
• 3/4 Cup Whole Black Gram/Black Lentil/Urad Dhal
• Handful of Flattened Rice "Poha"
• A little salt
• A pinch of Soda 

Procedure:

• Grind the rice separately with water as needed. Add the poha to any one of the rice while grinding. Grind the Lentil to a smooth paste. One can use a heavy-duty blender or an "Indian Wet-Grinder", like the one in the picture.

• Mix the rice batter and Lentil batter into a large bowl/pail(As you let the batter ferment overnight, they double in volume). Add a little salt and soda. Stir the batter and place it in a warm spot to ferment overnight. 

• The fermented batter is frothy and ready to be made into a dosa.  Take a small portion of the batter and add little water. The batter shouldn't be too thick nor too runny.

• Pour a ladle of batter on spray some oil around the edges and over the top.

• Cover the griddle with a dome-lid and let it cook under and over for a minute on medium flame. For the Plain Dosa, no need to flip. Just fold and serve.

• Extra addition1: Egg Dosa: Do this right after the spreading the dosa on the griddle - Crack open an egg, Pour over the dosa batter and smear it evenly.Grind some pepper on top. This will have to be flipped so the eggs can cook.

• Extra addition2: Onion Dosa: Sprinkle some chopped onions on top and press it into the batter with a spatula. This will have to be flipped so the onions can cook.Do this right after you spread the batter. The batter must be a little thick.

• Dosa goes very well with innumerable side dishes, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Chutneys, sambhar, kurma, kuzhambhu are all excellent choices. The day I took the photo, I ate it with Lamb Curry.

Enjoy!

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Green Gram/Green Lentil Crepe "Andhra Pesarattu" With Upma and Ginger Chutney

BM14: Day1:  For this edition, I have decided to go with "Dosa/Indian Crepe" theme. To kick start, I am posting a recipe given to me by MIL. Dear, dear MIL is convalescing at home after she met with a car accident a couple of weeks ago.She is in my prayers for a quick recovery.

I am waiting to bug MIL for more recipes, but only after she is completely recovered and able to walk without the help of crutches.

Ingredients(Makes ~18 Crepes):

For the Batter:

• 1/2 Cup Whole Green Lentil, soaked overnight
• 1-1/4 Cup Split Green Lentil, soaked for 2-3 hours
• 1/2 Cup Rice Flour
• 1 Small Yellow Onion (Lemon-sized), roughly chopped
• 2 Green Chili, halved
• 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
• 1/2" Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• Perungayam/Hing/Asafoetida, a pinch

Additions to the batter:

• Salt as needed
• Coriander, finely chopped
• 1 Green Chili, finely chopped

For the Stuffing:

• Upma
• Ginger Chutney

Procedure:

• Soak the Whole Green Lentil Overnight. Soak the split Green Lentil for 2-3 hours.

• Drain the lentils and add it to a blender jar.

• Add the other ingredients under "For the Batter" into the jar as well. "Pulse" for a few times. The lentils get ground pretty quickly, in about 2 minutes. DO NOT grind to a fine paste. The batter should be a little grainy. Add sprinkles of water while grinding. The batter SHOULD NOT be runny.

• The resultant batter is frothy+ grainy and neither too thick nor too runny. 

• Add chopped Cilantro and chili to the batter. Sprinkle salt as needed.

• Give it a good mix and let it rest for 15 minutes or so.

• Heat a griddle/tava until it is hot but not too hot. I usually sprinkle a few drops of water on the hot tava and it sizzles. It is a sign that it is ready to use. Take a ladle of batter and spread it on the tava. Using an "oil mister", spray some oil. Sesame oil is desired but I just go with Olive oil. The flame should always be medium and not high. High flame makes the dosa stick to the griddle.

• A minute later, flip the dosa and lightly brown on the other side.

• While it is still hot, stuff about 4 Tbsp of  "Upma" and roll it up.

• Top it with Ginger Chutney, sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve.

Enjoy!

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