Spicy Cucumber- Onion Dosa.

"Spicy Cucumber- Onion Dosa" served with simple homemade Butter/ Loni ... here is a special scrumptious dosa, sort of a take off from our own tausalli, but I have added on onions both while grinding and as toppings besides other spices and it turned out simply delicious when had with loni ... Yummilicious ... 

** Last six months have been hectic with heavy work load on all of us and we have had do deal with it ourselves. As you all are aware the problem of Covid 19 still continues worldwide and the vaccine has also not to be seen anywhere in near future. In Mumbai the cases are increasing though there is much more awareness now than it was in the initial stages, but there is also a sort of careless attitude amongst some which makes it scary. The workload is actually not that much tiring as that the mind playing games and creating anxiety and helplessness in each one of us. My mind had also taken a break from thinking anything or preparing anything new, sort of kasanai nakkashe as we say in amchi which means a feeling of not wanting to do anything. The last full month due to heavy back and neck pain my mind kept wandering elsewhere and I could not focus properly on preparation of new dishes. Finally I decided enough is enough and that I needed to take back control on life and from this alsai/ laziness, as my worrying or overthinking would really not change things, would it ??

** I felt I had to take both body and mind to task before it gets rusted, so sharpened it again and began reading a lot which I had really missed out on. I also began browsing through net for new recipes or something that which I could prepare and relish. Finally I decided upon this one giving my own variations as just yesterday I had been out of town on official duty and on return passing through villages I had bought some nice green fresh cucumbers. So finally prepared this dosa today morning and it was simply awesome served with homemade butter/ loni. I have added on all spices to the batter so there is absolutely no need of serving it with chutney but if you desire you may do so, it is sure to uplift the dosa in taste much more. As for me I am crazy from childhood of relishing dosas with homemade butter and I love the combo very much, so does hubby, though I did serve him a dash of green chilly- lemon pickle. Do try out this dosa, it is thicker in texture, crisp outside, soft withing and should be served hot immediately from tava. I have topped it with finely chopped onions, curry leaves and coriander leaves which again is optional, but it definitely tastes good. 

** Here is my simple recipe for "Spicy Cucumber- Onion Dosa" … My Style …. 

** Ingredients : 

Raw Rice (Surti Kollam or any other) : 2 cups 

Patal Povu/ Patla Poha/ Thin Beaten Rice : 1 cup 

Cucumber/ Taushe/ Khakdi : 1 large sized. 

Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 5-6 

Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : ½ cup freshly grated. 

Ginger/ Alle’/ Adrak : 1 inch piece 

Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 1 large sized. 

Coriander Leaves/ Kottambari Pallo/ Dhania : 2- tblsp 

Salt/ Meeta/ Namak : to taste. 

** For Topping : 

Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 1 large sized. 

Coriander Leaves/ Kottambari Pallo/ Dhania : handful finely chopped. 

Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 2-3 finely chopped (Optional) 

Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 5-6 fresh leaves finely chopped. 

** Oil (Tel)+ Ghee(Toop) mixed in 1:1 proportion for frying the dosas. 

** Wash and soak raw rice (I used surti kollam, you can use any normal rice) in plenty of water for 4-6 hours or overnight. I soaked it overnight as I wanted to prepare it the next morning for breakfast. 

** In the morning or just before grinding the dosa, soak patla poha/ thin quality beaten rice in just little bit of water, just enough to make it soft and wet. Keep it ready aside. 

** Wash the soaked rice well once again and drain off all excess water. Put it in mixer grinder along with cucumber (approximately 4 cups of cucumber pieces) retaining the skin, green chillies cut to pieces, fresh coconut gratings, ginger cut into small pieces, onion peeled and cut to pieces, fresh coriander leaves, the soaked poha and grind all together to a very smooth paste with little bit of water. 

** The batter should be slightly thinner than that of Idly batter, so add in water little by little as necessary and do not make it thinner in texture. Remember that the cucumber also contains enough water in it, so you will not need too much of water. Remove into a bowl and add in salt to taste and mix well. Keep it covered aside while we prepare the toppings. 

** To Prepare the Topping: Peel off the outer skin and finely chop the onion and put it in a bowl. To this add in finely chopped fresh curry leaves along with finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and mix it all together and keep it ready aside. If desired add in finely chopped green chillies but if you have young children, it is better to avoid the same. 

** To prepare the Dosa : Heat a Iron tava/ non stick tava to smoking point, then lower the heat and let it cool a bit. Sprinkle some oil+ghee and gently wipe with a tissue, leaving a thin film of the same on the tava. Now pour in a large ladle full of batter at the center of the tava, and gently with the back of the round ladle/ spatula spread it to a thick textured dosa of say about 6-8 inches in dia. 

** Immediately top the dosa with the prepared and kept toppings by sprinkling a little bit all over on the dosa. Sprinkle some drops of oil+gee on top and the outer rim of the dosa. Let the dosa cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Now gently press the toppings with a flat spatula so that they stick within the dosa, this step is necessary to avoid it falling out when flipped. 

** Allow the dosa to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Once bottom side of dsoa has been cooked, gently loosen through the sides of the dosa. Once again sprinkle some ghee+oil on top of the dosa and then flip it over and immediately press it to the tava with spatula. This helps the onions to get cooked well and turn slightly crispier. 

** Let the dosa cook for a few minutes till the onions turns slightly crisp but not burnt and the top side of the dosa too gets nicely done, then once again flip back, let remain for a minute and then remove from tava and put it on a serving plate. Continue with the remaining batter to remove required no of dosas in the same procedure as was with the first dosa. 

** "Spicy Cucumber- Onion Dosa" is done and ready to be served. Dosas are always best served hot from tava with any accompaniment of your choice, especially if they are topped with onions etc. as otherwise they will turn out soggy and not taste that good. This dosa is spicy enough and does not need any accompaniment as such as tastes great served simply with Butter/ Loni however you can serve it with any spicy chutney, sweet jams, curries, gojjus etc. of your choice. 

** Note : After removing the required number of dosas, if the batter is remaining, do not work, just put it in airtight container and put it immediately in fridge. Remains good for over 24 hours and can be prepared into dosas as and when required. 

** Note : You can add the preparing topping directly into the batter, mix and spread on tava gently too, if desired. However, I always like to add onions etc. mixed and topped as that way when you flip over and cook the dosa, the onions turn crisp and tastier. Try it this way and you will never add them directly to dosa batter in future, the tastes simply gets enhanced. 

** Note : The addition of finely chopped green chillies in toppings is optional as the dosa is already spiced or you can add in more while grinding itself. However, some really like the taste of those finely chopped chillies, but if you have young children at home, do be careful as it may turn out spicy for them, I avoid topping them usually on toppings.