Cornmeal Dosai (Cornmeal crepes)

The very mention of dosais brings to mind a lot of hard work and worries about fermenting and sticking to the pan while cooking. Leave alone non-Indians it is surprising how many of my North Indian friends request Idli or dosai and sambhar /coconut chutney when they visit.

Idlis are a category unto themselves causing challenges even to the most experienced cooks. Dosais on the other hand in addition to bringing out the creativity of the cook can also provide opportunity for some tasty variation with ingredients that are commonly available.

Red Chillies has been running the dosa series for a couple of weeks now and it is a tasty collection of dosais with some amazing array of ingredients. The one that called to me was the Corn Meal Dosai. With all kinds of corn meal readily available having a recipe that works would be a blessing for a quick meal.

I made a few modifications skipping rice flour in favor of wheat flour. It was one excellent dosai going by the number each one wanted and also the speed they were disappearing as they come off the stove. I initially had the batter a bit too thick and the dosais were not lacy. I added a lot more water to have a very thin batter and that seemed to be the right consistency. Keep in mind the consistency of rava dosai. There is no fermentation required so the dosai is ready to be made as soon as the batter is mixed.

I follow my mom's way of adding crushed/blended chilies, curry leaves, cumin, ginger and coriander leaves instead of adding them chopped. The amazing aroma this blended mixture adds to the dosai is another plus.

Cornmeal Dosai
Ingredients
1. 1 Cup stone ground Cornmeal
2. 1/4 Cup Cream of Wheat
3. 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
4. 1 tsp turmeric powder
5. 3 green chilies
6. handful of chopped coriander leaves
7. 2 sprigs of curry leaves
8. 2 tsp of grated ginger
9. 1 tsp cumin seeds
10. salt to taste
11. 2-3 tbsp of yogurt whisked with 1/2 cup of water(this is optional and use as much or less as you want)

Method
1. Blend green chilies, coriander leaves, curry leaves, cumin, grated ginger with a tsp of salt and set aside
2. Whisk together cornmeal, cream of wheat and wheat flour with turmeric and yogurt
3. Add in the blended mixture, 2 cups of water and salt if required. The batter should be very loose
4. Set aside for 30 minutes. No fermentation is required of course
5. Heat the dosai pan or griddle and pour the batter (it is not spreadable) around to form a lace pattern
6. Spray or add oil to the edges and let it cook on one side. Flip and cook on the other side

Serve with chutney of choice. Recipes for chutney here.