Dosais/Dosas or Pancakes

Dosais/Dosas can be called the south indian pancake. The staple food of the tamils has been rice and other grains. In Tamilnadu, idlis and dosais – the blend of parboiled rice and dehusked black gram – are taken for breakfast and dinner with several varieties of chutneys to go with it.

These dosais are made soft and fluffy as a day-to-day affair. Elders at home prefer it this way as it is easier for their teeth. The children like them crispy. The elders have  the dosais with gingellyoil, where mothers prefer to give the kids with lots of ghee or clarified butter. Gingelly oil is another name to sesame oil. Wikipedia mentions that chinese, japanese and koreans use it as a flavour enhancer. In the south of india, gingelly oil is a cooking medium by itself. It is also used as a raw mixture to chutneys and chutnie powders.

Dosais can also be made from other different kinds of grains. In this section, we shall see the different kinds of dosais.

Plain Dosai/Dosa

The ground batter is used as Idli for the first day. The second day, when the batter becomes more sour is fit for making dosais. But I make dosais out of the first day batter too. The fenugreek seeds in the batter brings out the colour of the dosais.

Ingredients

• Idli/Dosai Batter – as per need

What brings out better dosais/dosas

1. The best dosais come out of wet grinders which are the traditional stone grinders
2. Nevertheless, good blenders could do a good job
3. The quality of dosaikal or the tawa/pan is important 
4. Cast iron pans give out very good dosais but nonstick pans are good with less oil consumption
5. Well fermented batters bring out the best dosais 
6. The consistency of batter – not too thick and not too watery to pour in the pan

Method of Preparation

1. When the batter is well fermented, mix it well from the bottom with a ladle
2. Adjust water – the batter should be medium thick pouring consistency
3. Turn on the stove and keep the pan on it
4. Heat up the pan
5. Sprinkle some water on the pan
6. Apply 1/2 tsp gingelly oil preferably or any cooking oil to the dosaikal/pan
7. Rub the oil evenly on the dosaikal with a kitchen tissue
8. Pour the dosai batter in the middle of the tawa and spread it evenly in circular motion
9. Let the stove be in full position
10. Sprinkle droplets of oil around the corners
11. After the dosai turns a little brownish, simmer the stove and turn it to the other side
12. In less than 30 seconds on the other side, dosai is ready
13. Apply a bit of ghee or clarified butter on top and serve
14. The first dosai may not be the best. After the tawa is well used to oil, dosais come out better. So, better not ask for the first!

Dosai made in cast iron dosaikal/tawa, with oil spread around the corners

Turned on the other side – dosai is ready

 the third or fourth dosai is the best  

Serve the dosais with chutney (https://dosaikal.com/category/chutneys/), sambar or gun powder chutney.