Vegetarian mains
Masala dosa & spiced spuds with beetroot & coconut relish
Masala dosas are the perfect Indian street snack. Traditionally the paper thin dosa pancakes are made with a fermented rice batter. As the process takes 3 days, we’ve cheated a little here and used a mix of rice and chickpea flour. An Indian snack is never complete without a chutney or relish, so a warm beetroot side adds some earthy flavour and bright colour.
Cook's notes
The trick for a thin dosa is to tip the pan in a swift steady roll, swirling the batter into an even layer. We've given you more batter than you need for a few experimental runs. The first attempt always ends up as a sacrifice to the God of pancakes.
Ingredients
- 75g rice flour
- 50g chickpea flour
- 700g potatoes
- 1 red onion
- light oil for frying e.g. sunflower
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 large beetroots or 3 smaller
- 1 chilli
- 3 tomatoes
- 30g fresh parsley
- 3 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- ½ tsp black onion seeds
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Place the rice flour and chickpea flour in a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in 220ml of cold water until you have thin batter. Season with a good pinch of salt. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
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Step 2
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, cut them into roughly even 1cm dice. Put them into a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until they are just cooked but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. While the potatoes cook, peel and finely slice the red onion.
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Step 3
Put the sliced onion in the frying pan with a little oil to gently fry for 10 minutes. Stir it occasionally. Add a dash of water if it looks like it might catch and burn. Meanwhile prepare the rest of the veg. Peel and finely chop or crush the garlic cloves.
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Step 4
Peel and finely grate the beetroots. Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Wash the parsley and shake dry, chop roughly. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the small saucepan and add the grated beetroot and green chilli along with 2 tablespoons of water.
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Step 5
Add the coconut to the beetroots and cook gently for 10 minutes. While the beetroots cook, drain the potatoes. Add them to the onions with the chopped tomatoes and garlic. Turn up the heat and fry them until they start to break up a little and the tomato cooks down, about 10 minutes.
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Step 6
Add the turmeric, garam masala, cumin seeds and dried chilli flakes to the potatoes. Fry for 2-3 minutes until everything smells fragrant. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley. Finish the beetroot by stirring in the black onion seeds and seasoning with salt and pepper.
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Step 7
Preheat your oven to a low heat. Remove the dosa batter from the fridge and re-whisk it. Heat your shallow frying or crêpe pan with a thin layer of oil. Tip in a small ladle of the batter and swirl it round into a thin layer (see cook's notes).
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Step 8
Fry for 1 minute or so until golden brown. Flip it and brown the other side. Keep warm in the oven while you continue. Repeat until you have 4 good dosas. Divide the potato mix between the 4 dosas and roll them loosely up.
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Step 9
Serve with the warm beetroot dolloped on the side.