Useful Kitchen Tips

Frozen Tomato Puree Cubes

•  While making Medu vada/Urad daal vada add 1-2 teaspoon ful of Rice flour. This makes the vadas crisp.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar to the dosa batter to get crispier and golden color dosas.
• When making stuffed Bhindi, Baigan, Sponge gourd etc. stuff the vegetables and keep at least for 6-8 hrs. in fridge . This will ensure that all the spices of stuffing gets seeped in the vegetable. The vegetable will tastes amazing.
• While making coconut or ground nut chutney add 2 teaspoon roasted urd daal. The chutney will taste super and texture will become silky.
• When making halwa add 2-3 teaspoon ghee after halwa is cooked. Switch off the heat and cover. This will give halwa a great flavor.
• While making cluster beans after cleaning break them into big pieces or cut into small pieces then boil them in salted water for 10 minutes. This will remove the bitterness of beans and the vegetable will also become softer and tastier.
• While making the dough of puri/samosa/gujiya use chilled water to make the dough, let the dough rest for an hour or so. The puri/samosa/gujiya will come out crisp but soft.
• Add salt in Bhindi/Lady finger sabzi add salt only after 5-10 minutes of cooking. By then the slimy thing dries up.
• Soak the garlic in water for 1 hr. before peeling them. This will ease the peeling of garlic.
• While making sambhar add 1 teaspoon rice to daal. It will give the sambhar a silky texture.
• While making paneer tikka add little corn flour or rice flour to the marinade. This will make the paneer tikka crisp.
• To store paneer, cut it to required pieces and in a no-stick pan sear it on both side to light brown color. Paneer will remain soft and nice for longer time in fridge.
• In season when tomatoes, lemon are available in plentiful and are less expensive, store them by freezing their puree/juice. 
• Lemons can be stored whole afetr good wash and drying them up.

https://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-to-preserve-lemon-juice.html

https://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2013/03/preserving-whole-fresh-lemons.html
http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.in/2014/02/how-to-preserve-tomato-puree.html

• While cooking onion for gravy or any vegetable add little salt to it , Onion wll take lesser time to cook.
• Place a folded tissue paper on the container base  and one on the top of the chopped onions, while storing chopped oinions. Strong smell and moisture will be absorbed by tissue paper. Change the top tissue paper after every two days if stoting chopped onions in the fridge for longer time.
• While storing peeled garlic place tissue paper on the base of container and on the top of peeled garlic. Sulphurish strong smell will be absorbed by the tissue. 
• Make gravy/gravy masala and store in freezer. It comes very handy when short of time or energy.
• When rice and urad daal is being soaked for #Dosa/#Idli add 1teaspoon of fenugreek seeds and grind them to paste along with soaked rice and daal. This will make idlies fluffy and dosa crisp. 

Masala Dosa ( Thin crisp rice-urd dal pancake with potato vegetable)

Golden Brown Crisp Dosa

Masala Dosa, Sambhar,Coconut chutney and some Masala by the side

Crisp golden brown Dosa with potato vegetable, coconut chutney and sambhar, evokes the memory of my hostel days in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India when we used to go 12 km. from our hostel to eat dosa with friends. We used to look forward for Sundays when we could come late in the hostel at night (10 pm!) so first a movie then Dosa treat.

Coming to Pune, Maharashtra after marriage gave me opportunity to learn making not only dosa but many South Indian dishes and Maharashtrian dishes. My daughter and son have been great admirer of the dosa I make though the recipe remains same everywhere it is the love and care with which it is made and their love for me that they find dosa made by me very special. No doubt there is no replacement for the food coming from mom’s kitchen.

                                             

Preparation Time: 30 min. (Soaking and fermentation time not included)

Cooking Time: 3-4 min. / Dosa

Servings: 15-20 medium size Dosa.

Ingredients Required For Making Dosa:

• 150 gm. Boiled Rice 

Boiled Rice

• 50 gm. Urd Dal

Urd Dal

• 1 Teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds)

• 1 Teaspoon Salt

• Water

• Olive oil / Ghee / Any cooking oil

Ingredients required for making Masala (Filling) for Masala Dosa: 

• 250 gm. 

• Potatoes

• 150 gm. Onions

• 5-6 Kadi Patta (Curry leaves)

• 1/2Tea spoon Mustard seeds

• 1/2Teaspoon Cumin seeds

• 2-3 Green Chilies

• 1/4Fresh coconut

• 1/4Teaspoon Turmeric Powder 

• 1 Tea spoon Red chili Powder

• Salt to taste

• 1 Tea spoon Olive oil /any cooking oil

  Direction For Making Dosa Batter:

• Clean rice and wash it till clean water starts coming from the washing.

• Wash the urd dal till clean water comes out from the washing.

• Soak washed  rice and urd dal and fenugreek seeds in excess water for 8 hours in a separate container.

Rice, Urd Dal and fenugreek seeds mixture soaked for 8 hr

• Drain all water from soaked rice, urd dal and fenugreek mixture and grind it separately to fine paste.

Soaked Rice and Dal mixture made to fine paste

• In a 2lt. container take the paste of dal, rice and fenugreek and salt. Mix nicely.

• Cover and keep aside for 10-12 hours for fermentation.

• The batter will rise after 10-12 hours of fermentation and will be ready for making Dosa.

Fermented Rice and Dal paste ( Batter for Dosa

Directions For Making Filling For Dosa: 

• Boil potatoes.

• Peel boil potatoes and crush them to small pieces.

• Peel onions and cut them to thin long pieces.

• Grate fresh coconut.

• Take oil in a thick bottom wok and heat on high flame.

• When the oil is smoking hot lower the flame and add mustard seeds.

• When the mustard seeds have spluttered then add cumin seeds and curry leavesLet the cumin seeds splutter and curry leaves become crisp ( 30-40 sec).

• Add green chilies and cook for 30 sec.

• Add onion and cook with regular stirring.

• Cook till the onions become transparent.

• Add crushed potatoes and mix nicely.

• Add turmeric, salt, Red chili powder and mix nicely.

• Cover and cook for 5 min. with occasional stirring in between.

• Add grated coconut and mix.

• Cover and switch off the gas. Let the flavor of coconut seep into the vegetable.

• Masala (filling) for Dosa is ready

Directions for Making Dosa from the Fermented Batter:

• Add 50 ml. water, mix nicely to get smooth pourable consistency batter.

• Oil a non-stick Tawa or Dosa Tawa (Thick Iron Plate) with 3-4 drops of oil.

• Heat the tawa on high flame till hot (not smoking hot).

• Reduce the flame and scoop 40-50 ml. of batter and spread it to a circle of 1mm. thickness.

Fermented paste of Rice and Dal spread on Tawa

•  Bring the flame to high.

• Pour 1 ml. of oil from the edges of the circle.

• The color of dosa from the side touching the tawa will start turning reddish and the edges will start leaving the surface of the tawa.

• Pry the dosa loose from the edges slowly and flip it upside down

One side cooked to golden color and being cooked on the other side

• Cook for a min. (the other side will also start becoming golden brown).

Dosa cooked on both side

Golden Brown Crisp Dosa

Crisp Dosa

• Reduce the flame and place 3-4 teaspoon of the filling in the center of dosa.

•  Fold the dosa and press it gently.

• Remove the Masala dosa from the flame and serve hot crisp golden brown dosa with coconut chutney and sambhar.

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.in/2012/08/tangy-delicious-coconut-chutney.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/05/sambhar-tur-dal-cooked-with-vegetables.html

Masala Dosa with Sambhar and Coconut chutney

•  Repeat with rest of the batter for making the number of dosa you require.

• Store rest of the batter in fridge for later use as it can be stored in fridge for 4-5 days.

Tips:

• If you are grinding it grinder then dal and rice can be soaked and ground together but if mixer is being used for making the paste then dal and rice should be soaked and ground separately.

• Do not make the paste too thin, it is better that the batter is thick while being kept for fermentation and water added as per requirement before making dosa.

• Some times dosa do not come out from the tawa and get stuck to it, so before you start making dosa cut an onion into half and rub the oiled hot dosa tawa with the cut onion.

•  Add water in little amounts during grinding.

Suggested Variations:

• Masala (potato vegetable) can be filled in dosa or served separately as per your wish.

• Add 2 Teaspoon of sugar to the fermented batter along with water; this will make sure that the dosa get beautiful golden brown color.

• Boiled fresh peas can be ground to paste and mix to the dosa batter (fermented) to make Matar Dosa.

• 1-2 Tea spoon sugar can be spread on dosa before flipping it for cooking the other side to make meetha dosa.
• Once the dosa is cooked on one side spread 3-4 tea spoons of grated Mozzarella cheese and then flip the dosa and cook on the other side having cheese for 1 min. (cheese will become golden brown).