Crispy Urad Dal~Rice~Nachani (Ragi/Finger Millet) Dosa.

"Crispy Urad Dal~Rice~Nachani (Ragi/Finger Millet) Dosa" served with Coconut~ Ginger ~Bimbul (Tree Sorrel) Chutney And Strong Ginger Tea (Kadak Adraki Chai) ... Superb crispy thin dosa ... Simply Yumz ...... 

** It is always a pleasure to try out new varieties of dosa’s and when the dosa turns out to be perfect and awesome, your happiness doubles in amount. I am always in look out for new recipes and have created my own too many a times. I simply love eating crisp dosa dunked in coconut chutney. The pleasure of eating a hot crisp dosa right out of the tava is something sort of luxury to me and I do indulge in it at times. Being a business women, I am always tied up with work and never get to sit down and enjoy my dosa properly. It is always a pleasure when Mom comes over to stay as then, when I finish serving all, she insists I sit and sees to it that I too get my share of hot dosa from direct from tava. Today however, I made justice to myself by sitting down to enjoy my dosa dunked in chutney with steaming hot kadak adraki chai (Stron Ginger Tea). 

** When my friend Vidya Nayak Shenoy posted this dosa version in my Food Group “Konkani Delicacies” yesterday, at first it did not catch my attention as I do prepare this dosa and it is not new to me. But, after sometime when I was again scrolling through the group, I luckily chanced upon reading her recipe, which she had shared along with the posting. The recipe differed and that set my mind alarms, I read and re read the recipe again and then decided to give it a try. My version of dosa is posted before and it is slightly different, I do not add poha and the amount of rice is more. Now dear Vidya is an expert is cooking and has so many yummy dishes that though I promise her I will give it a try, somehow I always fall behind and forget the same. I fondly call her paneer queen and it is a delight to watch her paneer dishes. 

** This time I decided not to just save the recipe, which I knew would then fall behind, with my new forgetting beemari (sickness). Yep a new one has caught on me, I keep forgetting things nowadays and the to do list just keeps on getting added. This time round I thought no excuses and just went ahead and soaked the urad dal and rice. Well, now that they were soaked, come what may I knew I would do the dosas. I have not changed or tweaked the recipe, but just added on some ginger and green chillies towards the end while grinding, but kept rest of the recipe as it is. When the first dosa was ready hubby who was standing nearby decided to just relish it, well he is my critic, but I knew from his looks when he scooped out the dosa with chutney and ate that it was awesome. 

Thanks to Vidya Nayak Shenoy and Prabha Shenoy for the Recipe ... Thanks Vidya, we simply loved this version of the Dosa ....... 

** Note : I would like to also mention here that, I usually grind the batter in wet grinder, but have recently started using the mixer grinder recently for a few reasons. One, it gives my shoulders relief from pain, as my Dr. has advised proper care of the same, also it’s a relief if you have back pain. Second, I prefer to grind just enough quantity for 2 persons and wet grinder needs slightly more of the ingredients for proper functioning. Third one being its over in a jiffy and also washing the utensil is much lesser of a task than the wet grinder. Having said this I would like to mention here that if you have larger family it is best to use wet grinders as not only do they grind well, the quantity also is much more than the mixer grinder. I have switched over to mixer grinder only for grinding of dosa batters, while I still prefer Idly batter to be ground in the wet grinder. You may choose any method suitable to you. 

** Here is the Method of preparation of "Crispy Urad Dal~Rice~Nachani (Ragi) Dosa" ... 

** Ingredients :

Urad Dal / Black Gram Dal : 1 cup 

Dosa Rice / Ordinary Rice : 1 cup 

Methi / Fenugreek Seeds : 1 tsp 

Poha / Pova / Beaten Rice : ½ cup 

Nachani / Ragi / Finger Millet Flour (Powder) : 1 cup 

Ginger / Alle’ / Adrak : 1 inch piece 

Green Chillies / Tarni Mirsanga / Hirvi Mirchi : 4-5 (less spicy one’s) 

Salt to taste 

Oil + Ghee for frying the Dosa. 

** Wash and soak Urad Dal + Rice in plenty of water for 5-6 hours. 

** Soaking of Methi : Soak methi seeds in ¼ cup of water in a small cup for an hour or so, just before you start grinding the batter. This is to be used while grinding the dosa batter. I do not add the methi along with the dal’s coz. When we drain off the water, the health and medicinal properties of methi seeds are also lost through it. You can use lukewarm water if you have only 10-15 mins time at hand only. It will give similar result. 

** Note : Almost everybody I know, even my Mom soaks the methi seeds along with the urad dal / rice while soaking the same. Therefore, it is not necessary to follow my method of soaking separately. You may do so along with other ingredients too. 

** Before starting to grind the urad dal and rice, add just enough water on the poha + nachani flour, so that they both get softened well. Do not add in more water. Keep this aside for at least 15-20 mins. It gets softened very well. Use the thin quality poha for better results. 

** Now rinse and add in the urad dal, rice and the soaked methi along with the water in which the methi seeds were soaked into the mixer grinder and grind to a very fine paste. Add in little bit of water as you grind for proper ground paste. But do not add in more water. The ground batter, should be thick, smooth and fluffy. Remove the batter in a vessel. 

** Now in the same grinder add in the soaked nachani and poha and grind to a smooth paste. Once it is ground, add in the chillies cut to small pieces and the ginger which is also cut to small pieces and grind for half a minute. Remove and add the ground paste to the urad dal – rice batter in the mixer. Add salt to taste and mix both the batter well and keep overnight for fermentation. 

** Note : Keep the batter in a larger vessel as I found that the batter ferments well and rises a lot. If the vessel is small, the batter may flow over and spill out. So keep the batter in a larger vessel. 

** Before you start preparing to take the dosa the next day, mix the ghee and oil in a small cup well. If is thick slightly thin it out and keep ready. This is for removing of dosa. I use both oil and ghee in equal ratio for dosas as ghee gives an awesome flavor to dosa. But at the same time ghee also gets burnt faster and addition of the oil, curtails the same and gives crispier dosas. 

** Mix the batter very well the next day, sometimes the rice settles at the bottom and the batter is thinner on top. So mixing well is necessary. Also if the batter has fermented and risen, it is necessary to remove the aeration from within the batter for further fermentation. So beat it well, till you get a smooth textured thick batter. 

** Heat a dosa tava / pan, to smoking hot level, then lower the heat, spread a tsp of oil lightly greasing the pan, and immediately pour a large ladle full of batter (about ½ cup) on the center of the tava / pan and spread well with the back of a rounded spatula or a tumbler. The dosa spreads very well in thin texture. Add a few drops of oil+ ghee mixture all round the outer edges of the dosa and sprinkle little bit on top. 

** This dosa is not flipped over and fried. But if you want to remove thick textured dosa, then do not spread the same slightly thicker and this you can flip over and cook. The texture of the dosa is entirely upto individuals liking. I removed them thin like paper dosa and I really got crisp dosa that tasted just like masala dosas. When dosa is crisply done on the bottom side, gently loosen through the side edges and lift the dosa and put it gently on a plate. Repeat the process for the remaining batter. 

** Note : Remember also not to raise the heat to high, but cook the dosa on medium heat. Also, while pouring the dosa and spreading remember to keep the heat minimum. The tava should never be too hot while adding on the batter as it then gets botched and does not give a smooth running base for the ladle. You can always raise the heat once the dosa has been spread properly. Also if you find the tava is too hot, sprinkle some water and rup with tissue, the tava looses the temperature immediately and is often ready for the next doas. 

** "Crispy Urad Dal~Rice~Nachani (Ragi) Dosa" is done and ready to be served. Always serve the dosa hot crisp from tava to your family and friends for they taste best that way. Serve them with any chutney or sambar of your choice. But this dosa is best served with coconut chutney. I served it with Coconut~ Ginger ~Bimbul Chutney along with some Hot Strong Ginger Tea (Kadak Adraki Chai). Yummy I really did have an awesome breakfast. 

** Try this out and enjoy with your family and friends. You can use the search option for "Dosa” and “Chutney" where you will get many more dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with dosa / Idly / roti etc. or with dal-chawal too. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you. I have also started a food group for "Konkani Saraswats" by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" the link of which is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring".