Saturday, April 30, 2011

Dosa with Masala palak and Feta cheese topping

I love French crepes, especially with meat and cheese topping. So, I like my crepe more like an appetizer rather than like a dessert. When I was eating it I suddenly wanted to try this concept with the Indian flavors.  In India we make Dosa - which is made from rice and lentils. I tried to combine it with masala palak (which is basically Spinach puree cooked with rich masala flavors) and Feta cheese (which is my favorite cheese with a unique and slightly bitter flavor). I immediately liked it and had a similar opinion from my husband.

Ingredients 

Rice - 3 cups
Urad dal (lentils)  - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1/2 tsp per dosa
Masala palak - 2 to 3 tbs (depending on your taste) per dosa
Feta cheese - 50 gms for 4 dosas

Preparation

  1. Soak rice and Urad dal separately in water for about 6 hours. 
  2. Throw away the water and blend them to a fine consistency. It is important to remember not to add a lot of water while blending. The final batter should be smooth but not liquid. After blending leave the batter outside for about 2 to 3 hrs for the batter to rise. 
  3. I use this batter for approximately 3 days. So scoop out the amount that you need and put the remaining back in the refrigerator. 
  4. Add very little water to loosen up the batter a bit and add the salt and mix well. 
  5. Heat the pan nice and hot and pour the adequate amount [1 big spatula should do, also depends on the size of your pan] of the loosened batter on to the pan. Spread it out evenly on to the pan [ about 2 to 3 cms thick) with the spatula. 
  6. Let it cook on the bottom side first and then turn it to the other side. Once you see that the dosa is done you can remove it from the pan and spread it on the place. Normally in India, we fold the dosa in to half after it is done, but for my dosa I will plate it with out folding.  So that I can conveniently use my topping.
  7. After the dosa is plated apply about 2 to 3 tbs of masala palak [the recipe for which you can find on my blog] on top of it and spread out evenly. 
  8. Add a few pieces of thinly sliced feta cheese on top. [It is one of my favorite, but watch out if you are not a fan of it. It is possible to replace Feta cheese with Paneer - which is Indian cottage cheese, although I hight recommend to try it with Feta.]
  9. Place these dosas along with the toppings on the baking sheet and bake them for a couple of mins in the oven at 180 C. [you have to keep an eye on this, as the Dosa gets burnt easily]
Enjoy!!!!!

Note: Dont follow step 9 if you have too much palak on the dosa as it might make the dosa soggy and difficult not only to eat but also to plate it. The reason why I bake these dosas is because this process softens the feta cheese a little bit and it tastes even better,  you dont have to do it when you are using paneer.

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