This month’s Daring Cooks Challenge was hosted by Debyi of Healthy Vegan Kitchen. She chose Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. I have never made Indian food before.  And one of the challenge requirement is  “no animal products” in the ingredients, the recipe being vegan.

The recipe consisted of 3 parts: the dosas (pancake/crepes), the filling and the sauce or topping. I made the suggested filling of curried garbanzo and surprisingly enjoyed it, not even noticing that it is vegan.  I was prepared to make another filling that included either chicken or turkey in case my husband didn’t like the dish, but we both enjoyed the vegan version.

The dosas or pancakes were a bit more challenging for me. I have never had dosa so I relied on images on the internet and those shared by fellow Daring Cooks, to make sure it looked  the way it was supposed to be.  The batter was a bit thick.  I had to add more liquid (water or soy milk) to get a thinner consistency.  I don’t think I was successful since my dosas looked and felt like a thin version of pancakes! Well.. we ate it anyway.  It was really good with the filling and the mango ginger chutney as sauce/topping. Here is the recipe provided by Debyi.  Except for some minor changes due to unavailability of ingredients, I followed the recipe as suggested.  (My changes will be indicated in parenthesis.)

Indian Dosas

Dosa Pancakes

• 1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour) – I used gluten-free all purpose flour
• ½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
• ½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
• ½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
• ½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
• ¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
• cooking spray, if needed

Directions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3. Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch.

• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
• 2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
• 2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
• 1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
• 1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
• 1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
• 4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
• ½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

For my topping, I used Mango Ginger Chutney instead of the Coconut Curry Sauce.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had  made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
• ¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
• 3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
• 3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
• 3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
• 2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
• 3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally. Let it simmer for half an hour.

Thank you, Debyi, for letting us experience this wonderful dish! I’m sure I will be making this again and trying other fillings you suggested such as the avocado and grape tomatoes with the mango or pineapple chutney topping!

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