Plant magic Dosa

Dosa take time to come to life and can’t be rushed. It certainly isn’t fast food. Once cooked, they turn delightfully crispy and golden, and are deeply savoury with a slight sour tang. These beauties are best eaten fresh and steaming from the pan, pulled apart enthusiastically with your hands and dolloped with a different chutney for each bite.

Before you start, make Gemma's spice-roasted kumara dosa filling, so it's ready pop straight into your dosa when they're finished!

Ingredients

2 cups short-grain rice


3⁄4 cup urad dal (split black lentils)


1 tsp fenugreek seeds


Water


1 tsp salt, to taste


Sunflower oil (or any oil with a high smoking point)

Serves 4-6

Method

To make the dosa batter, put the rice, fenugreek and lentils in a bowl. Rinse well. Add enough water to immerse the grains, and cover with a tea towel or plate. Leave to soak overnight.

Once soaked, rinse the rice and lentils again and blend in a food processor, adding one cup of water. It’s best to do this in batches. You’re looking to make something with the consistency of pancake batter.

Place batter in a bowl. Cover and leave to sit overnight to ferment.

The next day, little bubbles should appear on the surface. Add salt and stir the mixture well.

To cook the dosa, heat a cast iron pan (or non-stick pan) on a high heat and add a touch of sunflower oil. Ladle some batter into the centre of the pan and use the bottom of the ladle to spread the batter out in a circular motion.

Drizzle a little more oil around the edges of the dosa while it’s cooking. Leave the dosa to set and brown around the edges.

Using a spatula, carefully loosen the dosa from the pan, folding each side inwards to form a cylindrical shape. Eat immediately!