Aval dosai (Rice flakes dosa)

When I mentioned that my trip home to India for delivery was due soon, so many of you blogger friends turned up with good wishes. It felt so good to have met and made friends with so many like minded souls through blogging! Thank you all, my dear friends, for all your good wishes. Now to get to today's recipe, Aval dosai, a Tamil Nadu special.

Aval dosai has been one of my favourite tiffin items right from childhood. Growing up at my maternal grandmother's house at Salem, my childhood food preferences were greatly influenced by Tamilian cuisine. Amma, having relocated to dad's place at Kerala, has more or less given up on Tamilian fare except for when I turn up at home and ask her to make me something from grandma's kitchen. Aval dosai is one thing I make perfectly well at my kitchen but still ask amma to make for me whenever I visit her. Love it with pottu kadalai chutney (roasted gram). Here is my paatti (grandma) and amma's recipe for the yummilicious aval dosai...

Raw rice - 2 cups
Aval (Rice flakes/beaten rice/poha)- 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds (uluva/methi/vendayam) - 1 teaspoon
Sour curds (plain yoghurt)- 1 cup
For seasoning
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2 Nos
Onion - 1 medium sized
Ginger - 1" piece
For tempering
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Dry red chillies - 2 Nos
Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs
Bengal gram (Channa dal/ kadala paruppu)- 1 teaspoon

Wash and soak the rice and fenugreek seeds together for about 4 hours. Whisk the yoghurt with a little water to make it a little thin. Add the rice flakes to it and soak for about an hour. Add sufficient water and blend the rice and fenugreek in a mixie/food processor/wet grinder into a smooth batter. Do the same with the soaked rice flakes. Mix the two together and add salt to taste. The consistency should be like that of ordinary dosa batter (see picture). Allow to ferment overnight or for about 8 hours.

Chop the onions, ginger, and green chillies fine. Heat a teaspoon of oil and saute the bengal gram and red chillies. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Throw in the curry leaves, chopped onions, ginger, green chillies, and coconut. Whisk in to the batter.

Heat an appa chatti (see picture) and pour out a ladleful of the batter. Cover with a lid and simmer cook till done (approx 3 minutes). The bottom should have formed a golden crust and the top should be cooked well. You need not turn this over but if you like both sides golden, you can flip and brown the other side too like I've done.



PS : An appa chatti is a shallow pan traditionally used to cook palappams (vellayappams) in. If you do not have this you can use an ordinary dosa gridle (flat pan) to make aval dosai. For more detailed pictures of the 'appa chatti' check out the Vellayappam recipe link http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/05/vellayappam.html

Sending this over to EC's WYF : Cuisine event. The event is on at http://simpleindianfood.blogspot.com/2009/03/wyfcuisine-event-announcement.html till March 31st.