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ONLINE – Let’s Make Dosas!
Saturday, August 15, 2020 @ 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM UTC+0
With Anita (joining us from Oregon)
Healthy food is key for everything from healthy skin and teeth to strong body and immunity. Anita makes everything seem easy (and joyful) in the kitchen! The health-conscious, vegan-friendly (may use some dairy, but will always include vegan options), gluten-free menu features dosas and idlis, with chutney and sambar—plus a bonus—learn to make your own ghee and yogurt! We will make dosas and idlis with finger millet flour, instead of rice. Finger millet is a nutrition powerhouse and especially good for the body in the heat of the summer since it has a cooling effect on our system.
NOTE: There are two time-sensitive steps to complete in advance of the workshop on Saturday evening.
Session Format:
- We will share an email with notes on how to soak the ingredients for the dosa batter. This won’t be a live session, but it will be a time-sensitive activity. It should be done at least 6 hours before we meet for Zoom 1, so any time Friday morning before 11:00am. Don’t forget.
- Zoom 1: Friday, August 14 at 5:00pm for about an hour. This will be a live Zoom session where we can all grind the dosa batter together—and also make our ghee and yogurt. Have your blender ready.
- Zoom 2: Saturday, August 15 at 4:00pm – This will be our live Zoom class together on Saturday, where we will make chutney, sambar, idlis and dosas in our kitchens.
If some of the ingredients are not easy for you to get, Anita can ship you a “Dosa Box” that contains the following:
- urad dal
- ragi (finger millet) flour
- fenugreek seeds
- dry coconut
- tamarind
- dalia
- sambar masala
Deadline to order the optional Dosa Box was Friday, August 7. Cost, including shipping is $30.
Ingredients (to serve 3-4):
Dosa
- 1 cup dal (urad dal is the best, but can work with mung dal or red lentils as well)
- 3 cups finger millet flour (any other millet flour or brown rice flour also works great)
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
- Oil/ghee for making dosas (sesame oil works very well and is traditionally used to make dosas)
- butter to season the pan (if using a cast iron pan)
Chutney
- 1/2 lb dry coconut (or frozen coconut)
- 1/4 lb dalia
- 3-4 green chillies (or to taste)
- 1 lime or lemon (or frozen raw mango)
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- for seasoning: 1 tblsp oil, 1tsp mustard seeds, 1tsp cumin seeds and curry leaves (optional)
Sambar (lentil soup)
- 1 cup lentils (toor dal works best, but mung dal or red lentils are okay, too)
- 2 cups of veggies of your choice (cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, squash, okra, opo squash work very well)
- tamarind (1 tsp concentrate)
- 1/2 can coconut milk (optional)
- Sambar masala (Store-bought works well. Anita likes these two: 24Mantra or MTR)
- For seasoning: 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, curry leaves (optional)
Idlis (uses the same batter as dosa)
- Idlis are steamed rice cakes and traditionally had for breakfast with sambar and chutney. We will make a version of it with finger millet batter as a healthful variation.
- One notable tool we will need is something in which to steam the idlis. Traditionally in Indian households they use an Idli stand.
- For our purposes anything that can steam the batter will do – e.g. small containers that can fit in a larger container, or a small cake pan that fits in a bigger container. The key is that we should be able to add water and make a steam bath in a larger container. And then pour the batter in a smaller container that fits the larger container.
- An instant pot will work great to act as a steamer for the idlis.
Ghee: Get the best quality butter you can—preferably butter from pasture-raised cows, made from cultured milk and from Jersey cows. I promise you this will be the best ghee you have ever tasted!
- 16oz unsalted butter (I like the following butters widely available at a grocery store near you:)
- Spring Hill butter
- Organic Valley butter
- Vital Farms butter
Yogurt
- 1 quart to 1 half gallon milk (Again, get the best quality milk you can—preferably pasture-raised, vat pasturized, unhomogenized milk works really well. I like the following:)
- 1 tablespooon plain yogurt (I recommend getting a small container of yogurt of the same brand of milk you buy, if possible. If not, any plain yogurt will do.)
Other Kitchen tools needed:
- blender to blend dosa batter and chutney
- flat pan to make dosas (I like these very much: lodge 1, lodge 2 or these work well too: all-clad, electric)
- spatula to turn the dosas
- a heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan with a clean edge to make ghee (makes it easy to pour) – like this
- a tea strainer to strain the ghee – like this
- a saucepan to boil the milk and a container (stainless steel or glass works) to make yogurt
- a clean mason jar (or any glass or stainless steel container) to store the ghee
