Karam Dosa

Everyday, I would love to see puri - sagoo on my breakfast table or a plate of masala dosa if some one would prepare and serve it. Since that is not an option, I go for my other favorite breakfast dishes which demand less time and labor like this karam dosa which are simple and healthy. As the name suggests (karam = hot/spicy in Telugu) the dosa is hot and spicy. It is some what on the lines of Tamilians' adai.
It needs a minimum soaking of three hours and doesn't need any fermenting. You are ready to go as soon as the batter is ground. If you like it to be more spicier, add more chillies or serve it with chutney, chutney/ any spicy powder or a pickle. Or you can eat those spicy dosas with out any side dishes. When we were kids, my mom used to serve this with powdered jaggery and even today, I like it that way :) . My son would go when he see them in his plate, 'Are they ones which go with jaggery'?

Ingredients for the dosa batter: Makes around 8 dosas
Rice - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - A handful
Chandal - A handful
Red chillies - 10 to 12
Grated, fresh coconut - 1/4 cup
Curry leaves - 20 / a tbsp
Cilantro - 1 or 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - half of 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Water - about a cup

Wash rice, chanadal and uraddal thoroughly. Soak them in plenty of water for at least three hours. Grind them with all the other ingredients into a coarse batter using only as much water as required. The batter should be on the thicker side. If you prepare a thicker batter with the above measurements, the dosas are going to be thicker unlike regular dosas. If you prefer thinner dosas, add some more water to the batter and also instead of adding onions to the batter, sprinkle them on the spread dosa on griddle like you do for oothappam.

To make dosas:
Finely chopped onions - 1 cup
Oil to make dosas

Heat a griddle or a shallow pan. When you sprinkle a few drops of water on the griddle, the water should sizzle and evaporate. This means the griddle is ready. Take a ladle full of batter and pour it in the center of the griddle. With circular motion, spread the batter into a circle with the help of the backside of the ladle. The batter would be thick and you cannot spread it into a thin circle as you would with regular dosas.
Take ½ tsp of oil and spread around the edges of the circle / dosa and roast it till it turns golden brown in color. Flip the dosa, spread some oil around it again and let it cook on the other side as well. Remove the dosa with a spatula. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
Serve them hot. They won't be that delicious, when served cold.

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