As the weather changes, a little spice and heat from India is the perfect choice for some delicious meals.
Let Dan Toombs, aka The Curry Guy, inspire you with his India-inspired savoury and sweet heat recipes.
Ingredients
(Serves 4-6)
For the dosa batter
- 600g broken Basmati rice
- 150g white split urad dhal lentils
- 1 heaped tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 tsp sugar
- Oil, for cooking and greasing
- 1⁄2 onion, for greasing
For the masala
- 2 tbsp ghee or rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10 fresh curry leaves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 2 beetroots, peeled and cubed
- 1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1⁄2 tsp chilli powder
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Too cook
- To make the dosas, combine the broken rice, lentils and fenugreek seeds in a large bowl and rinse three times with water. Pour enough water into the bowl to cover and leave to soak for 12 hours or overnight.
- When ready to make your batter, drain the water completely. Fill a jug with 635ml water. Put about a quarter of the soaked rice and lentil mix into a food processor with about 150ml of the water and blend for at least 5 minutes, until very smooth.
- Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the rest of the rice and lentil mixture until it is all blended into a batter. Whisk the sugar into your batter and cover with cling film. The sugar will help the batter ferment.
- After twenty-four hours, the batter should be foamy on the top. Whisk in the salt. Your batter can be kept in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and it also freezes well.
- To make the masala, heat the ghee or oil in a large wok or frying pan over medium–high heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to pop, stir in the curry leaves and cumin seeds.
- Fry these for about 40 seconds so that the oil picks up their delicious flavour.
- Add the chopped onion and chillies and fry for a further 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the cubed potatoes and beetroot along with the turmeric and chilli powder and fry for a few minutes.
- Now add just enough water to cover and simmer this mixture until the potatoes and beetroot are cooked through and the water has evaporated. Your masala is ready when the potato and beetroot is good and soft.
- Mash lightly, then sprinkle in the fresh coriander and salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat about 1⁄4 tsp oil into a pan over medium–high heat and rub the surface with the half onion. The amount of batter you use for each dosa depends on the size of your cooking surface, but for a standard 30-cm crepe pan, use about 200ml.
- Pour the dosa batter into the pan and spread it outwards from the centre with a flat-bottomed cup or ladle. As the underside cooks, the edges of the dosa will begin to crisp and break away from the pan. When this happens, trickle about 1⁄2 tbsp of oil around the edges of the dosa.
- When the dosa is nicely browned underneath, add the potato masala, then roll it up, or fold in half to serve.
Love this recipe? Search our Food & Drink pages to find two more parts to our delicious taste of India series.
