Kal Dosai - A Soft And Silky Crepe With Rice And Black Lentil

KAL DOSAI

Kal dosais are so soft and silky that they can be folded like silk handkerchiefs. The white, oil- free dosais taste great with Kumbakonam Kadappa. My aunt used to serve the lilly white, soft kal dosais with pachai milagai tokku ( green chilly relish ) which is a deadly combination!

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice - 3 cups
Split black gram dal - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp

METHOD

1. Stir the rice in a heated kadai until the rice is warm but not roasted.
2. Switch off flame and immediately add water and fenugreek seeds.
3. Let the rice soak for one hour in the same hot kadai.
4. When it is cooled , drain the rice and fenugreek seeds and grind to a smooth paste adding fresh water.
5. Mix in salt and store it in a covered vessel.
6. Soak split black gram dal in another vessel and cover with a lid.
7. Let the contents in both the vessels stand overnight.
8. Next morning grind the soaked split black gram dal until smooth and fluffy.
9. Thoroughly mix the rice batter and the dal batter together to make the dosai batter.

TO MAKE THE KAL DOSAIS

1. Heat a greased tava ( DOSAI KAL ) on medium flame.
2. Pour a ladle of batter and spread into a thin round dosai.
3. When holes start appearing on the dosai cover it with a lid.
4. Let the dosai cook in steam for two minutes.
5. Remove the lid and wait for few more seconds .
6. When the dosai is done it can be easily removed by using a spatula.It need not be flipped and cooked.

The dosais stay white because the black gram dal batter is not allowed to ferment . Secondly it is not roasted using oil. The steam cooking keeps it soft and pliable.

Enjoy the hot, soft and silky kal dosais with your favourite sambar, chutney or tokku.

Sending this to Srivalli's Breakfast Mela!

Lentil Dal

I like to make simple dal recipes whenever we eat vegetarian food. I like dal because it is simple yet very good tasting and a comfort food. It goes well with any kind of sides whether it's veg or non-veg.

In India there are so many varieties of lentils that you can try and make new recipes out of eat lentil variety. In that case this is one of my experiments I can say. I made this dal with whole red lentils, I really love the taste and smell of the cooked lentils when compared to the toor dal. It has nice creamy texture to it when it's cooked.

Ingredients:

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1/2 cup of Whole Red Lentils

1 Onion chopped

1 Tomato chopped

2 Garlic pods crushed

1/4 inch Ginger grated or chopped

1 green Chili chopped

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red Chili powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

1/4 tsp Garam Masala powder

1/2 tsp Amchur powder or 1 tsp Lemon juice

1 pinch Asafoetida

Salt to taste

1 tsp Oil

1/4 cup Cilantro chopped

Method:

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1. In pressure add the washed lentils, water, turmeric powder and pressure cook it for 2 whistles.

2. In a pan add oil and when it's hot add cumin seeds and asafoetida, when the cumin seeds turn slight brown add garlic and green chili and saute for few secs.

2. Now add onions and cook it until it turns translucent.

3. Now add tomatoes, salt, cumin powder, chili powder, garam masala powder and amchur powder and cook in medium low flame until the masala is cooked and the tomatoes are cooked and soft.

4. Now add the cooked lentils to it, mix well and bring to a boil, make sure that the consistancy of the dal should be little watery, else add sufficient water.

5. Off the flame and garnish with cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or roti.