Dosa

The dosa is a crepe made from rice and black lentils. It is a typical South Indian dish, eaten for breakfast or dinner, and is rich in carbohydrates and protein. Though sometimes considered a breakfast dish, dosas are also eaten at other times of day.

Regular dosa batter is made from rice and split skinned urad bean (black lentil) blended with water and left to ferment overnight. A modified form of the same batter can be used to make idlis.

Characteristically the rice is very finely ground, more so than in idli batter. The rice can be uncooked and/or parboiled. The urad bean and rice can be replaced with highly refined wheat flour to make a maida dosa or semolina for a rave dosa.

The batter is then ladled in small amounts onto a hot greased tava, where it is spread out into a thin circle using a circular motion and fried with oil or ghee until golden brown. The dosa may then be folded in half and served or rolled as in a wrap, but in both cases it is typically cooked on a single side. Alternatively, it may be flipped to cook on the other side and then served. They can be stuffed with vegetables, meats and sauces to create a quickly prepared meal.

In the south, dosas are typically served with sambhar or coconut chutney.

The ubiquitous Indian dish, Masala Dosa, has its origins in Udupi, Karnataka. A masala dosa is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices. This variation developed from the tradition of serving a plain dosa with potato curry (batata bhaji), without the onions, in a separate cup. During a shortage of potatoes, a method was created where potato was mashed and sauteed with onions together with other spices. This was then placed inside the dosa instead of a separate cup. People enjoyed this new dosa. It came to be known as "Masala Dosa", from the sautéeing of spices (masala) during the preparation of the bhaji.

Though dosa typically refers to the version made with rice and lentils, many other versions of dosa exist, such as the maida dosa (wheat flour) and rave dosa (semolina) mentioned above, and are popular in varying degrees.

Types of Dosa

Dosa: An airy pancake/crepe made with fermented rice-lentil batter
Rava Dosa: Instead of the regular dosa batter, this dosa is made with a semolina (rava) batter; it is a dosa that looks lacier and has a different taste
Masala: Normal usage: spice; in the dosa context, this is a spicy, turmeric-tinged potato filling (see above)
Sada: This refers to "plain", sans potato filling
Mysore: This is a beautiful city in Southern India. In the dosa context, it means that the dosa will be smeared with a spicy chutney (either a paste or a powder)
Paper: An extra-crispy dosa that is as thin as paper
Ghee: Indian clarified butter will be used in copious amounts in the making of this dosa