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Monday, September 14, 2009

Daring Cooks' September 2009 - Indian Dosas

Hey ya'll.. well talk about the last minute AGAIN. I kept putting this challenge off because of time restraints.. but come to find out, time wasn't even an issue. Every component was quick and simple to put together.

To me this challenge was more about trying a cultural food I'd never had before. This wasn't much about learning a new technique in cooking. It was so simple that Hubbs joined in and between the two of us, we were done in less than an hour. I don't mean that he can only cook simple dishes, that's not true at all.. he's quite handy in the kitchen, bless his cotton reinforced toe tube socks. Actually he's a fantastic cook.. but he's an even better sous chef when I'm cooking. ;)


Never having ate Dosas before.. hell, never having ate Indian food before, I have nothing to compare this dish to. The flavors were very good, I enjoyed that aspect of it. It was the texture that kind of put me off. Although my "pancakes" were thin, they were still pretty spongy in texture. They reminded me of the pancakes that come with Mu Shu.. which I tried once and ended up eating the filling and not the pancakes - for the very same reason. hehe The filling, although we decided to not puree the chickpeas and instead mashed most of it and left some whole or partially whole, it was still too smooshy beany texture-wise for me. The coconut-curry sauce was delicious, but neither of us tasted coconut and we used a brand new can of coconut milk. Oh I should also mention, we halved the recipe but we followed it exactly, except for two things. We used all purpose flour instead of spelt and we used coconut milk in the pancakes instead of almond, rice or soy milk. Both changes were because of having to buy a large quantity of the ingredient for just a few tablespoons and/or less than a cup needed. In these times, it's almost a sin to waste anything.

Now with all of my negativity - we can definitely say that's just me. Hubbs loved it. He ate several Dosas and says he'll bring the rest for lunch tomorrow. And he doesn't do leftovers, so go figger. ;) He said that he'll forego the pancakes and just bring flour tortillas with him to wrap around the filling, which he'll mix with the sauce. This makes me happy. I'm glad he enjoyed them so much.


This doesn't mean much, since this is only the second time I've cooked/baked Vegan.. but my eyes have definitely been opened. Again, without ever trying what I assume are traditional Indian Dosas made with animal products, the flavors in these Vegan Dosas were so enjoyable that I didn't miss butter (don't hate me, Paula!) or cow's milk.

A great big Thank You to Debyi of The Healthy Vegan Kitchen for being a wonderful hostess and for turning many of us on to the pleasure of cooking Vegan. :)

xoxo

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Comments on "Daring Cooks' September 2009 - Indian Dosas"

 

Anonymous Jenn said ... (9/14/2009 1:32 AM) : 

Your dosas look great! Congrats on them being a resounding success!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9/14/2009 2:41 AM) : 

I am still looking for someone to flow with in the kitchen.

The chickpea filling just never clicked with my palette. That is why I took such liberties with the recipe. Now I am curious about the sauce as well.

 

Blogger mub said ... (9/14/2009 2:51 AM) : 

I liked the chickpea filling, but I think I'd only mash about a quarter of them next time. I agree with it being a little too mushy!

 

Anonymous Anh said ... (9/14/2009 3:04 AM) : 

I kept some of the chickpea unmashed so the texture is not too mushy.

Good job though, lis!

 

Blogger Jenny said ... (9/14/2009 3:40 AM) : 

Looks like you did a great job on this challenge - good to hear that your husband like them so much. Mine wasn't too thrilled about it being vegan, LOL!

By the way, AFAIK, this recipe wasn't authentic at all - dosas in India are made with rice and black lentils and the batter are fermented. I've seen a few Daring Cooks who did make them that way.

 

Blogger ramblin man said ... (9/14/2009 5:43 AM) : 

Sorry, I must say that what you managed to cook were not dosas at all. Dosas are never made with flour. Instead they are made of a batter of rice and black lentils. And certainly they are never filled with mashed chick pea mush.Dosas are normally crisp and crunchy, and served with a coconut chutney, and they normally do not resemble the pancakes served with mu shu pork. Looks like you got your recipe wrong.

 

Anonymous Simon said ... (9/14/2009 9:08 AM) : 

There are a lot of similiarities to how we approached this challenge. I too found the texture of the dosa initially a problem. However thinning them out produced better texture and when it was really thinned out, better flavour as well.

The real deal is far superior. It's worth a go if you know of a good Southern Indian or Sri Lankan restaurant in your area.

 

Anonymous Cheri said ... (9/14/2009 10:04 AM) : 

Great ideas on how to cut down the recipe without wasting ingredients. The main reason I made the whole recipe was because of the coconut milk. I too thought the pancakes were a little spongy.. I was kind of wishing for a crepe... although it was fun to try something different. Great job on the challenge!

 

Blogger Rose said ... (9/14/2009 12:16 PM) : 

Nicely done :) I soaked & boiled dried chickpeas and I think they ended up being firmer than most peoples so that the filling had more of a bite to it than mush. Glad to hear your hubs liked it, even if you weren't sold on it. Great job on the challenge :) Especially never having had Indian food before! WOW!

 

Blogger Lauren said ... (9/14/2009 6:26 PM) : 

Gorgeous job!! I'm glad your husband enjoyed it so much =D.

 

Blogger Mary Bergfeld said ... (9/14/2009 7:41 PM) : 

As long as one of you really enjoyed the dosas nothing is lost. How nice to have a pair of willing and helping hands in the kitchen. I hope you enjoyed the challenge.

 

Blogger Heather B said ... (9/14/2009 9:30 PM) : 

Your dosas turned out perfectly! Great job on this challenge!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9/14/2009 9:56 PM) : 

Ah, I wish the coconut curry sauce tasted more coconut-y too! Having a sous chef is the best :)

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9/15/2009 12:08 AM) : 

Lis, you had success, and they look beautiful..awesome photo! LOL@bless his cotton reinforced toe tube socks. You always come up with these gems that just floor me!

In any event, mine were 'feh', yet a friend of mine just gorged on them about an hour ago..go figure. Now, I need to go drench myself in butter, after staying up all night last night making this 'fatless' fare!

 

Anonymous Juliana said ... (9/17/2009 5:38 PM) : 

Wow, your dosas look so yummie...nice job on this challenge :-)

 

Anonymous veron said ... (9/19/2009 10:09 PM) : 

Well, they do look yummy to me. But I understand how the texture might get to you, it gets my hubby everytime.

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (9/23/2009 2:56 PM) : 

This is not a dosa at all! Why can't you actually try out the dish in its native form to realise how its supposed to be first?
Its really weird that people would exactly point out the subtleties of the slightest amount when differentiating between a sponge cake and a butter cake, yet when you substitute flour for rice batter and fill your creation with a ridiculous chick-pea mush instead of serving it with sambar and coconut chutney, you still have the audacity to call it a dosa. And people applaud you for this.
Brilliant is ignorance till it meets the truth.

 

Blogger Lis said ... (9/23/2009 8:25 PM) : 

Apparently, Shreyashi, you would know all about "brilliance is ignorance till it meets the truth". If you had read the entire post you would have realized that we were cooking VEGAN this month.

The cuisine may have been a play on Indian cuisine but the lesson was in VEGAN COOKING. The lesson was NOT about AUTHENTIC Indian cuisine.

I would appreciate it if you would read the entire post before you spew some ridiculous garbage on my blog. Apparently, you have a little too much time on your hands, dear. Spend that time on your own blog instead of mine. :)

 

Blogger TeaLady said ... (9/28/2009 5:47 PM) : 

Those look great. And delicious.

I plan to make these again as I LOVE Indian food and these will be perfect with my curry.

 

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