Crispy Masala Dosa recipe with Potato filling and Chutneys

Crispy Masala Dosa is one of the most popular among the South Indian recipes. It is a typical South Indian dish, eaten mostly for breakfast and is rich in carbohydrates and protein. It is considered as the staple food in the South indian region. In the rest of the country too, Dosas are hugely popular and Udipi restaurants serving them and other South Indian foods can be found in almost every suburb.

In this recipe I will share the secret to making the Dosa crispy just like it is made in restaurants. You will also learn how to make the onion potato filing and red chili chutney which is smeared on the dosa before putting in the potato filling. And finally you will also learn how to make spicy hot green coconut chutney to go with the dosa.

Making the Dosa Batter

Ingredients:

• 2 cups - Idli rice or parboiled rice
• 1/2 cup - Skinless split urad daal (skinless black gram)
• 1/2 teaspoon - Methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds)
• 1/4 cup - Poha (beaten rice)
• 1/4 cup - Cooked rice
• 1/4 teaspoon - Cooking Soda
• 3 to 4 teaspoon - Sugar
• 1 tablespoon - Salt
• 1 handful - Chana dal (Yellow split peas)

Add parboiled rice, methi, poha, cooked rice, yellow spilt peas into one large vessel containing sufficient water for soaking. Then soak urad dal in water in a separate vessel. Soak for 6-7 hours or overnight.
Then grind the contents from both the containers separately to a smooth paste adding water as required. After grinding the urad dal, add it to the main batter container and mix well. Add water as required until you get a pouring consistency.

Now add sugar, salt, cooking soda and mix well. Cover and keep aside in a warm place for at least 7 hours. During this time the batter raises and reaches approximately two and a half times the original volume. So make sure you use a big enough container for the dosa batter.

Red chili chutney

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup - Coconut
• 4 to 5 nos - Red chili
• 1 teaspoon - Roasted split chickpeas
• 4 to 5 - curry leaves
• Tamarind - Size of a small grape if it is raw tamarind or 1 tbsp tamarind extract
• Coriander or cilantro - 1 tablespoon chopped
• Salt to taste

Grind all the above ingredients and make a thick paste as shown in the picture.

Onion Potato Subji or Palya (Dosa Filling)

Ingredients:

• 4 nos - Potato, medium sized
• 1 to 2 - Onion, medium sized long thinly sliced
• 12 nos - Small green chilies, not to be chopped. Just split them at the center
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp - Mustard
• 1 tsp - Urad dal (black gram)
• 1 1/4 tsp - Chana dal (yellow split peas)
• 10 nos - Curry leaves
• 2 tbsp - Coriander leaves or Cilantro
• 1 tbsp - Ghee
• 2 tbsp - Oil

Cut the potatoes each into 2 pieces with the skin intact and cook them in a cooker until one whistle. Then peel the skin of the potato and smash or squeeze them coarsely by hand and set aside.

Heat oil in a khadhai or a pan amd add mustard. When the mustard starts popping or bursting add urad dal and chana dal. Keep stirring for a minute and then add onion, curry leaves, green chilies and turmeric. Saute for around 10 minutes. Add Salt and 1/2 cup water and stir well. Add the mashed potato, coriander leaves, ghee and mix well. Now take the pan of the heat and the potato subji is done.

Green Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup - Coconut grated
• 3 tbsp - Roasted split chickpeas
• 6 nos - Small Green chili
• 2 pieces - Ginger (small)
• 3 tbsp - Coriander or Cilantro chopped
• Tamarind - size of a grape fruit
• 1/4 tsp - sugar
• Salt to taste

Grind all the above ingredients with a little water into a paste. For tadka add 1 tsp oil, little mustard and few curry leaves in a pan on medium heat. When the mustard starts crackling for a minute add the tadka into the chutney paste and you are done.

Making the Dosa

1. Take a dosa tava or a non-stick pan and put it on a medium to high heat.

2. Apply few drops of oil on the pan. Take a piece of cloth and rub it all over the surface of the pan to grease it. Do this step for each dosa.

3. Now sprinkle a little bit of water with your hand. Wait for the water to crackle and evaporate. This ensures that the Dosa will spread evenly and not break because the pan is too hot. Do this step for each dosa.

4. Take 1/4 cup of dosa batter and gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan.

5. Now begin to spread the batter in sweeping circular motions to form a circle. Do not be alarmed if the Dosa develops tiny holes as you spread the batter. This is normal.

6. Apply oil and ghee over the surface of the dosa and also around its edges. If you wan tyou can hold the pan by its handle, lift up and swirl it so as to make the drizzled oil spread all over the Dosa.

7. After a minute or two you will see the the thinner part of the dosa is turing dark brown. This indicates that the dosa is coming out crispy and is almost done.

8. Now smear a little bit of the red masala chutney on the dosa as shown in the picture. the quantity of this chutney depends on how spicy you want the dosa to be.
9. As the last step add the onion potato subji to the center of the dosa and flip the 2 sides of the dosa one over the other such that the subji is covered. The dosa is now ready to be served.