Masala dosa

By: David Frenkiel, Luise Vindahl Andersen
From: Green Kitchen Travels
Serves: 4

‘How is this?’ Luise wobbles her head from side to side, trying to get the Indian head shake right. It looks pretty convincing, or should I say confusing. It can mean ‘yes’, but it can also mean ‘okay, I hear you’, or even ‘no’. We are sitting on the plane on the way back from Trivandrum in southern India and are talking about all the things that we will miss. ‘I will definitely miss that it’s all right to eat with my hands,’ I admit. ‘Ha! That’s why you feel so at home there.’ Luise is right. I have always preferred eating with my hands instead of a fork and in India I can do so freely without anyone thinking I am weird. ‘I am going to miss the breakfast dosa,’ Luise sighs. We have had the spicy lentil pancakes filled with peas and potatoes for both breakfast and quick street food. We asked about the method and it involves a few rather complicated steps of soaking rice and lentils and then mixing them into a batter that you leave to ferment – not exactly a quick breakfast in our home. For this book, we have created a quicker version using chickpea and brown rice flour. — David

Sweet potato filling

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
	ghee, for frying, plus extra for the dosa
or	cold-pressed coconut oil, for frying, plus extra for the dosa
1	onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon	garam masala spice blend
1/4 teaspoon	ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon	ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon	chilli powder
2	sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed
150g	fresh shelled peas
or 150g	frozen peas, thawed
1 small handful	coriander

Indian mint and coconut raita

Quantity	Ingredient
6 tablespoons	plain yoghurt
20g	mint, finely chopped
4 tablespoons	unsweetened desiccated coconut

Chickpea dosa

Quantity	Ingredient
125g	chickpea flour
40g	brown rice flour
1 teaspoon	sea salt
1 tablespoon	nigella seeds, (optional)
250ml	water

To serve

Quantity	Ingredient
	Mango and raisin chutney
1/2 teaspoon	ghee
or 1/2 teaspoon	coconut oil

Method

Heat a knob of ghee or coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onion and all the spices. Stir frequently and cook until fragrant. Add the cooked sweet potatoes and peas and cook until hot through, stirring. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon and sprinkle with the coriander. Set aside while preparing the raita and the dosa.
To make the raita, combine all the ingredients in a small serving bowl. Add more yoghurt if you prefer a looser consistency. Chill until ready to serve. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
To make the dosa, mix the flours in a bowl with the salt and nigella seeds, if using. Gradually whisk in the water to make quite a thick batter.
Add the ghee or coconut oil to a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add about a quarter of the batter to the pan and immediately use a spoon to smooth it out into a circle. Turn when golden and brown the other side. Slide out of the pan and keep warm while making the remaining dosa. Add a few tablespoons of filling to each dosa and fold in a loose roll, ready to serve with the raita and chutney.