INSTANT CASHEW COCONUT DOSA

I still don’t know to make the regular Dosa, the one that needs to be soaked, ground and fermented overnight. So, I am constantly on the lookout for instant Dosa recipes and S has an abundant collection of these.

When S sent me the Cashew Coconut Dosa recipe, I knew I’d be making this one for sure. I’d never had Dosa that had coconut in its batter and most definitely not cashews. I have never been more excited about eating any other Dosa.

All recipes that go up on my blog are made by me. I didn’t have time to prepare the batter for this one as I have a tight schedule in the mornings on weekdays. Radha had prepared the batter and as I entered the kitchen and turned on the flame to heat the pan, I couldn’t wait to taste this one. If I were a puppy, I’d have wagged my tail off in excitement.

Speaking of puppies, ain’t they cutest!

Look how crispy these are!

These are crispy Dosas that melt in your mouth. It has a wonderfully, mild coconut flavour, I probably didn’t add enough cashews to taste their rich creaminess. I had the Dosas with chutney and honey. The ones with honey tasted like crunchy, coconut crepes. 

These Dosas are instant, perfect for those days when you run out of breakfast ideas.

I also have the recipe for Instant Watermelon Dosa on my blog. Go check that out.

 

INSTANT CASHEW COCONUT DOSA

Ingredients:

Upma rawa (semolina) (roasted) – 1 cup

Rice flour (roasted) – 1 cup

Freshly grated coconut – ¾ cup

Cashew nuts – ¼ cup

Salt – to taste

For the seasoning:

Oil – 8 tbsp

Green chilli (finely chopped) – 2

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Jeera (cumin) – 1 tsp

Curry leaves (finely chopped)- A sprig ( or two)

 

Method:

 

1.     Blend the coconut and cashew into a fine paste.

2.     Add this paste to the  rawa and rice flour.

3.     Sauté the seasoning ingredients in oil and add to the above mixture.

4.     Add enough water to soak the above mixture and set aside for an hour.

5.   When you pour the dosas, add more water ( batter should be of neer dosa/rawa dosa consistency).

6.     Cook on both sides.

7.     Done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INSTANT WATERMELON DOSA

Would you believe this Dosa gets its lovely green colour from a watermelon rind!!!

My grandmother got a smartphone some time last year and has been hooked on to WhatsApp and YouTube, oftentimes even foregoing her afternoon nap, looking at videos. She recently sent me a video of a recipe for Watermelon Dosa.

I do not know how to prepare the Dosa batter that requires soaking and overnight fermentation. It was only a few years ago that I poured my first Dosa and spammed people with the perfect, crisp round Dosa I had created. I looked around at the empty kitchen back then and gave little nods of acknowledgement to my imaginary audience. Since that day I have been on the lookout for instant Dosa batter recipes. I still shy away from the fermented one. I don’t even know the name of the lentil that goes into it. (Wait a minute; we do add lentils to the batter, right?) The Dosa Dal? When I saw the video of the Watermelon Dosa, I told Radha that I would be making breakfast the next day. “You’ll have to wake up early for that” said she. Harumph.

I had washed and chopped the rind the previous night and kept it in the fridge and left the Mixie and the other ingredients out. This gives you extra 10 minutes of sleep in the morning. I was a bit apprehensive at first as sometimes these instant batters go dreadfully wrong.

After pouring and preparing the first Dosa (which I thought looked great) and getting the second one on the pan, I called Sky to taste it while I hovered around him.

I will definitely be making these Dosas again. It was a great hit at home, Skip and Sky loved it. It’s made from watermelon rind!!! That itself should get you to try this recipe. The rind is a rich source of fiber and is high in Vitamins A, B6,C, Potassium and Zinc (There’s a whole lot of information on the internet, you may Google it :D)

The Dosa is crispy (the semolina makes it crisp) and unlike the plain ‘Rawa Dosa’ it doesn’t require spoonfuls of oil. It doesn’t taste of watermelon but has a mild taste of  ummmm... ‘greens’.

WATERMELON DOSA (makes 12 Dosas)

Ingredients:

Watermelon rind – 2 bowls

Rice Flour – 1 bowl

Semolina (Rawa) –1 bowl

Gram Flour (Besan) – 1 heaped tbsp

Water – about 1 ¼ bowl

Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

1.   Scoop the flesh off the watermelon rind, wash the rind well and chop it into small bits.

2.  Grind the rind in the blender to a paste. To this, add the rice flour, semolina, gram flour and one cup water and blend well.

3. The batter ought be slightly runny (thinner than the regular dosa batter and thicker than the neer dosa batter). Add more water if required and blend again. ( I added ¼ th cup water more)

4.   Let the batter rest for about 10-15 minutes. Add salt to the batter, give it a good mix.

5.   Add a little oil to the pan. Pour the batter onto the pan, spread it out as thin as possible. Pour a little ghee (clarified butter) or oil on it. Cover and cook one side and when that side is done (the bottom will brown and the edges will leave the sides of the pan), flip the dosa and cook the other side for a minute.

6.      Done.

Recipe Notes:

·        This dosa takes a longer time to cook than the regular one. Make sure that you cook both sides well.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Day 7 of self isolation : Time to revive the blog!!! As Skip practices batting, out in the balcony, I quickly slide behind my work desk, flex my fingers (I pause for a bit as I have forgotten the font we used for our blog), I step out and bark a few instructions at Skip (drink water, wash your hands, gargle), I come back in and ponder for a while.

Last night, I wondered out aloud if this was all a bad dream and asked Sky to pinch me. His face lit up at this wonderful opportunity being presented before him but as he stepped closer, he decided it would be for the best to remain a mute spectator to my soliloquy.  

It appears that life goes on as usual outside the confines of my house as I can hear vehicles whizzing past. I have half a mind of getting my dented plate and spoon out and shout out warning calls to these passers-by. I have to admit my panic has reduced from last week and now, I cannot bring myself to read articles or watch videos anymore on this topic. 

I really crave for a pizza (boring old Margherita will also do) and a nice long swim in a pool. I wake up daily and send out a little prayer to the universe, hoping that today’s the day when we see a miraculous drop in the spread of this virus.

Last Wednesday (18^th March) on Bob’s insistence I brought Skip back home from my parents’ place and geared myself up for self isolation with an active 7 year old. I had a whole schedule planned for Day 1.

         

By mid-day, I erased the board realising that making a timetable would be futile and that it would be best to just go with the flow.

I made pancakes yesterday. I usually make whole wheat pancakes (without any leavening agents) for Skip as they are healthier but I think we all deserve a special treat once in a while.

The pancakes are light and airy and fluffy and feel like thin heavenly slices of cake. I wish I had drizzled the chocolate sauce aesthetically ( I used Hershey’s). Bob called them Spiderman’s pancakes!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKE (MAKES 5 PANCAKES)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida) – 1 ½ cups

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Sugar – 2 tbsp

Salt – a pinch

Buttermilk – 1 ½ cups

Egg -1

Unsalted butter (melted) – 2 tbsp

Vanilla essence/ cinnamon powder  – ½ tsp

Method:

1.     Melt butter and set aside .

2.    In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, sugar and salt)

3.    In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla essence.

4.    Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. ( Do not over mix).

5.     Heat a pan on medium heat, add a dollop of butter ( I used ghee (clarified butter). Pour a thick layer of the batter into the pan. Once bubbles begin to form, flip the pancake and cook for a minute.

6.     Serve with a syrup or topping of your choice.

7.     Done.

Recipe notes

·     To prepare buttermilk: Add 1 ½  tbsps of lemon juice or vinegar to the 1 ½ cups of milk, stir with spoon and set aside for 10 mins. The mixture will curdle, give it a quick whisk and your buttermilk is ready.

·  The prepared pancake batter will have lumps, do not over mix else the pancakes will end up dense.

·  You may top the pancake with honey or chocolate syrup or layer it with chopped fruits/peanut butter/jam. You may also increase the amount of sugar that goes into the batter and have it plain.  

Follow our blog as we come up with more ideas on how to spend time in self isolation and keeping those little ones occupied!

Stay home, stay safe !