Mumbai’s street food is legendary. There are versions for many a local Indian dish and the dosa is not exception. A Dosa is a savoury crepe made with rice and black gram. It can be served plain with assorted chutneys and sambar, or then spiced up in assorted ways.
In Mumbai’s famous Khau Gallis (literally translated to meet “food lanes”), you can find very innovative dosas; Pav Bhaji Dosa, Chinese Dosa, Spring Roll Dosa, Noodle Dosa…. the list goes on.
One of the most popular is the Mysore Masala Dosa. It is a dosa that is smeared with a garlic-onion chutney and stuffed with a potato-onion curry. I am not sure the Mysore people had anything to do with this version, but it is oh-so-popular! 🙂
Here goes the recipe!
Soaking and Fermentation Time: 12-16 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Ingredients for Dosa Batter
- Udad Dal or Husked Black Gram – 0.5 Cup
- Rice – 1.5 Cups
- Methi Dana or Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
- Salt to Taste
Ingredients for the Potato Curry
- Potatoes – 3 Large
- Onion – 1 Large
- Peas – 1/4 Cup (Optional)
- Fresh, Grated Ginger – 1 tsp
- Bengal Gram or Chana Dal – 1 tbsp
- Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
- Green Chillies – 3
- Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
- Salt to Taste
- Curry Leaves – A Few
- Salt to Taste
Ingredients for the Chutney
- Onion – 1 Large
- Garlic Pods – 2
- Red Chillies – 2 or 3
- Salt to Taste
Other Ingredients
- Oil to make dosas
Method to Make Chutney
- Peel and chop the onion into large chunks.
- Grind the garlic, onion, and red chillies into a smooth thick paste with a little water.
Method to Make Potato Curry
- Boil the potatoes and set aside to cool.
- Peel and cut the onion in half.
- Slice the onion halves.
- Peel the boiled potatoes and crush by hand into largish chunks.
- In a wok or kadai, heat the oil
- Add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.
- Add the chana dal and fry till the dal is golden brown.
- Add the slit green chillies and curry leaves.
- Fry for 1 minute.
- Add the sliced onions and fry till transparent.
- Add the peas and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the grated ginger and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the turmeric and salt.
- Mix well and fry for 1 minute.
- Add 1/4 cup water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the boiled potatoes.
- Mix well with a light hand.
- Cook covered till the water has evaporated.
- Serve hot with puris and rotis; or use as stuffing for dosas.
Method to Make Dosa Batter
- Wash and soak the udad dal, rice, and fenugreek seeds in 3 cups of water for 6 to 8 hours.
- Drain the water and rinse under running water for a couple of minutes.
- Grind the udad dal, rice, and fenugreek seeds with about 1.5 cups of water into a smooth paste.
- Remove the batter into a large vessel.
- Add salt and mix well.
- Add enough water to make the batter into pouring consistency.
- Let it ferment for 6 to 8 hours.
- After the batter has fermented, mix well.
Method to Make Mysore Masala Dosas
- Heat a griddle or tava.
- Add 1/2 tsp of oil and spread well to season the pan.
- Turn the heat down and wait for a minute or so.
- With a heavy ladle, spoon about 1 ladle of dosa batter in the centre of the pan.
- Using the bottom of the ladle, spread the dosa batter quickly into a 7″ circle.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high.
- Turn the tava around to ensure that the dosa is cooked evenly.
- When the surface dries a bit, turn down the heat.
- Add 1 tsp of chutney to the centre of the dosa and spread evenly on the surface. If you stop at this stage, it is called a Mysore Sada Dosa.
- Spoon 2 tbsp of the potato curry into the centre of the dosa.
- Fold over and serve with Coconut Chutney and Sambar.
- Repeat to make more mysore masala dosas.
Thank you…. Yum
Yum yum.. I want to have bite..
Mysore masala is my favorite dosa amongst all. I am going to try it with your version.
Wow, the chutney in itself looks so mouthwatering! very lovely recipe.
you have got to stop doing this to me!!!!
This looks absolutely fantastic. Now if I can just perfect my dosa making skills…
Practice if the magic trick… And just think of how many dosas you can have along the way! 😀
yummy 🙂
Oh yum!!!!! I love the photo of it being cooked in the street! I wish they did that here!
Hmm, this looks wonderful, thanks for sharing the recipe! I’ve been planning to make dosas (or try making them!) for a while, now I have a perfect guide!
This looks so good!
This looks so good! It’s been too long since I had a good dosa. Mmmmm…
My mouth is watering! I just wrote a post about how much I enjoy Indian food 😀
My favorite dosa. This looks yummy! 🙂
looks marvelous! BTW, is there a vegan equivalent for Ghee? I’m finding that my dishes seem to be lacking some depth. Thanks,
May I know in what kind of dish you are substituting ghee? For most desserts, there is no vegan substitute for ghee. Some people do use Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (aka Vanaspati), but I don’t like the taste.
For ordinary cooking, you can use oil (I use sesame).
Oh , so good 🙂
this looks amazing and yummy 🙂
Oh My all time favorite! Your recipe looks great!
How much I miss street food here!! And not fair… You are posting such lip-smacking stuff here… 😛 Have to make it this weekend!!!
Enjoy!
After reading this, I miss Mumbai and its khau gallis 🙁 Your dosas look lovely!
Yummy..
such an elaborate dish! And yes, hats off to your patience! Dosa is always welcome in indian households. 🙂
Will work for food. … 😀 😀
Hi 🙂
Just happened to stumble upon your blog. Found this post and suddenly i have a craving for masala dosa 🙂 Your blog is lovely. Enjoyed reading your post. Just wondering, are you from Kerala?
Thank you for the kind words Sri Lakshmi….. I am from Andhra!