In one batter vartiety dosa’s & Oothapam I will be dealing with some of the healthy and nutritious dosa’s that are usually prepared in GSB Konkani’s home as breakfast or along with rice. These dosa’s have the same batter with the same ingredients. But the vegetables that you add to the batter are different and this adds up to the different taste and flavour of the dosa’s. You can also add different combinations of vegetables. When you add different combinations of vegetables the taste will be different from when prepared from one vegetable alone. There is usually no specific proportion when preparing dosa with different combination of vegetables. Either you can add all the vegetables in equal proportion or you can add with one vegetable more than the others. Whatever may be the taste and flavour will be different for each dosa.
The various types of dosa’s that can be prepared from this single batter are Onion Dosa (‘Swlya polo’ in Konkani), Drumstick leaf dosa (‘Masinga pathiyae polo’ in Konkani; ‘Muringa ela’ in Malayalam), ‘Akshapalya polo’ in Konkani (‘Agathicheera’ in Malayalam), ‘Koduvae polo’ (‘Kyappacheera ’ in Malayalam), ‘Mottakusa Polo’ In Konkani (‘Cabbage dosa’), ‘Methiyae Polo’ (Fenugreek leaves; ‘Uluva cheera’ in Malayalam) Cabbage and onion dosa as well as mixed vegetable dosa.
Now another dish which can be prepared out of this single batter is ‘Muskat’ in Konkani and ‘Oothapam’ in Malayalam. Dosa is a thin preparation but Muskat is like pancakes. The above mentioned vegetables can all be used to prepare ‘Muskat’ also.
The speciality of these dosa’s and muskat is that you do not require any side dishes to consume them. You can just have them as such. But still if you insist on having a side dish you can go for the coconut chutney. Children usually prefer this dosa along with sugar.
Ingredients for preparation of the batter
You need
- 2 cups raw rice
- ¼ cup par boiled rice
- 6 tbspns grated coconut
- 1/4th tspn of turmeric powder
- 5 to 7 red chillies (or as per your spiciness level)
- A small piece of tamarind, or 1 medium sized star fruit (‘Carmbal’ in Konkani) or 2 medium sized bilimbi (‘Birmi carmbal’ in Konkani)
- A pinch of asafoetida
- Water as required
- Salt to taste
- A handful of flaked rice (Phova) can also be added (Optional)
Method
Processing the vegetables
For Drumstick leaves: Remove the leaves form the main stem. Wash them and cut into small pieces with a knife. The main stem of the leaves is usually avoided. The thin smaller stem is taken.
For Agathicheera leaves (‘Aksha Pallo’ in Konkani): You require only the leaves. The main stem of the leaves is not taken. Wash the leaves thoroughly and cut them into small pieces
For Methi leaves (Fenugreek leaves): Remove the root of the plant. Take only the leaves. Wash them to remove any soil particles attached to the stem. Cut the leaves into small pieces
For Koduvi: You require only the leaves and the roots are discarded. Cut the leaves into small pieces.
For cabbage onion and other vegetables like carrot you have to wash them and cut into small pieces or even grate them. For carrot you have to remove the peel first.
Preparation of batter for One batter – variety dosa’s & Oothapam
Grind all the ingredients together in a mixer grinder mentioned to a smooth paste.
I have mentioned phova under the ingredients. It is optional to add that. If you add it you will get a soft dosa. One more thing I would like to mention is that red phova is more tastier than the white one when you use it for grinding purposes. If you are adding phova reduce the amount of grated coconut as well as that of the parboiled rice or else you will find it difficult to spread the dosa on the tawa (For one handful of phova you need just to add one handful of parboiled rice and 4 tbspns of grated coconut). You need not have to ferment the batter.
The batter should be of the usual dosa batter consistency.
After grinding the batter add the vegetable or leafy vegetable of your choice.
Mix well.
Now heat a dosa tawa on a medium flame. Apply oil on the tawa with a clean cloth. Pour the batter at the centre of the tawa and spread it just the same way you do for normal dosa preparation. Dash some oil on top and on the sides. Close the dosa with a lid and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Now remove the lid and flip over the dosa and let it cook on the other side too. Cook till both the sides have specks of golden brown colour.
Repeat the procedure with rest of the batter.
Your dosa(s) is/are ready to be served.
You can have these dosa as such without any side dish. If you are particular about some side dish coconut chutney would be the preferred one. Children usually have it with sugar.
Preparation of Muskat/Oothapam
The preparation of the batter and the ingredients required in the preparation of the batter are the same as that which you require in the preparation of dosa. The only difference is that you have to use appachatti in the preparation of Muskat/Oothapam.
Pour a small spoon of oil into the appachatty. Then pour one ladle full of batter and dash a small spoon of oil on top of the Muskat/Oothapam. Close the appachatty with a lid and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Now flip over and roast the other side. Cook till both the sides are golden brown in colour. While flipping over and cooking you can make a cross sign on the Muskat/Oothapam so that it will get cooked on the inner side also.
Your Muskat/oothapam is ready to be served. Just like dosa you do not require a special side dish for having this. But you can have it with coconut chutney as well as sugar.
Tips
Need not ferment the batter. If you are planning to prepare the dosa at a later time you can refrigerate the batter until use.
Only while preparing the first one or two dosa’s you have to apply oil on the tawa with a clean cloth. Later on you need not have to repeat the procedure as already the oil that you dashed on top of the dosa will be sticking to the tawa. That will be sufficient to prevent the dosa from sticking to the tawa.
Always remember to close the dosa and cook after applying the batter to the tawa else you will get dehydrated dosa.
