Masala Dosa, or the masal dosa, is one of the most common and well-known South Indian dishes that you can find throughout India. This dish, which translates to dosa filled with masala in English, consists of a soft lentil crepe stuffed with potatoes and spices such as cumin, mustard seeds, and curry leaves. It’s usually served with two different chutneys — coconut and tamarind — that contrast each other perfectly in texture and flavor.
Rice and Coconut
The first step in making masala dosa is mixing rice flour and ground coconut together with water to create a batter. Add salt, pepper, or other spices if you want. Traditional dosa recipes use urad daal or split black lentils as well as rice, but all that's required is a basic combination of rice and coconut. Mix everything together until it forms a smooth batter, adding water if needed until you reach the right consistency. The thicker your batter, however, the longer it will take for your crepe-like dosa to cook. Keep an eye on things while you're working so that it's just right by the time you get around to frying them.
Potato Filling
Cut potatoes into small cubes and cook them in a large pan with 1 tsp of oil. Once they are half-cooked, add chopped onions and green chillies and mix well. Let it cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat, till potatoes are fully cooked. Remove from heat and let it cool down completely before using it as filling.
Onion, Curry Leaves, Tamarind and Asafoetida Powder
The first step in making masala dosa is frying a thinly sliced onion, curry leaves, asafoetida powder and little bit of tamarind in hot oil until brown. It’s important that you do not add water at any point during cooking so that your dosa will turn out crispy. The mixture should be fairly dry and almost caramelized. This stage can take anywhere from 5–10 minutes depending on how hot your stove is set. Once you’ve finished browning these ingredients add them to a plate or bowl and move on to the next step.
In The Pan
As with most traditional Indian recipes, dosa batter is all about technique. Once you get it down, it’s easy to whip up a batch of crepes whenever you have time. To start, soak your urad dal for about 30 minutes. Mix together your soaked lentils, rice flour and salt in a large bowl. Add water until your batter is about half as thick as yogurt and whisk thoroughly for about three minutes with a fork or masher. Heat up a griddle (or heavy frying pan) over medium-high heat and smear oil on both sides of your dosa pan—this will help give your dosa its signature smoky flavor when cooked.
Serve with Coconut Chutney and Sambar
The key difference between dosa and paniyaram is that dosa batter is a runnier version of pancake batter, which can be drizzled onto a griddle instead of scooped. Traditionally, masala dosas are served with an array of chutneys and sambar. You can try your hand at one or all of these masal dosas recipes. These tasty dosas serve four people and should take 30 minutes total to prepare: Garlic-Paneer Masala Dosa (with step-by-step photos): Sauté one medium chopped onion in two tablespoons olive oil.