Raving Rava Dosa

Rava Dosa, if made the right way, is crisp, quick and yum. Although, it is not easy to spread like the normal dosa. One needs to be patient and attentive to get the dosa crisp and not torn. Rava dosa is kind of an instant dosa itself, as the batter does not need to be fermented. It is an on spot make-and-eat dish. This is truly a tambram (tamil-brahmin) breakfast-tiffin dish.

Most of the rava dosas I have had at home are tasty for sure, but are not like the ones we get in restaurants (paper crisp). I couldn't succeed in reverse engineering this dish until I met a lady who comes from a family running a tambram-tiffin hotel (dosa-idli hotel). I begged her to teach me this coveted dish, and yes, it tasted great. Palakkad iyer men are usually known for their cooking and hotel business. I am married to a palakkad iyer. Somehow, my palakkad iyer doesn't enter the kitchen unless I am sick. Thanks to this aunty, who helped me come out of a circle of failed restaurant-rava dosa attempts.

Ingredients:-

1 cup rava/semolina
1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup maida/all purpose flour
1 medium sized onions chopped
1/2 a cup butter milk
water
few curry leaves chopped
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
3-4 green chillies chopped finely
1 inch of ginger grated
salt to taste

Method:-

Mix the rava, maida and rice flour with butter milk and enough water to make the batter. The batter should be as thin as milk consistency. You should be able to sprinkle the batter with you fingers.

Mix the pepper,ginger,green chillies,onions and salt to the batter.

Spread some oil on the tava evenly with a help of tissue paper or cotton.

Mix the batter with a ladle. Take a ladle full of this batter and pour the batter on the tava to make a circle. Make this circle by pouring the batter from the periphery to the center (reverse mechanism of a technique used to make normal dosas). Do not touch the ladle to the tava; you need to pour the batter not spread it.

Keep the flame in medium and cook till the dosa gets evenly crisp and light brown.
Make sure to mix the batter every time you make a dosa.
Serve hot with any chutney or milagai podi/chutney podi.

Before making the next dosa, mix the batter, oil the tava with tissue, and then make the dosa.

I picked out this cute video from you tube to show you how to spread a rava dosa (spread by pouring on the tava without touching the ladle and reverse mechanism of a normal dosa). It is so cute how the grandma makes it for her grandson and feeds him lovingly. I remember my childhood days when my grandma would make yummy food for me.

Click here to view the video.