pepperhead212
Executive Chef
Earlier I talked about making the dosa batter, using the Instant Pot to help the fermentation process. Here's the photo of the fermented batter:
Dosa fermenting by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Here is the actual cooking of the dosa
I used a 10" NS skillet, as the only CI pan that I have that is well seasoned is a square pan that would be too small to maneuver in. It took some tweaking with thinning the batter (only took a couple TB of water), and the flame level, before getting it right, and this was my first try! And I realized quickly that there was a better way to spread the batter in the pan, than the usually suggested back of the ladle, which would leave an uneven trail in the batter. I would pour the batter in using the ladle in my left hand, and quickly spread out the batter using a flat-backed spoon, which made a more even surface. I tried swirling it, like I do with crêpes, but crêpe batter is much thinner, so that made a dosa too thick. Cooking with the flame too high made it firm up too fast, as I spread it, too low, just took too long! Here's what I settled at:
Flame level settled on for dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Here's that ladle and spoon I used:
Ladle and flat bottomed spoon used for the dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Using the spoon to quickly spread the batter in the pan. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
In the beginning, when I flipped the dosa there were places where bubbles had formed, so they were unevenly browned. So shortly after the batter would puff up, I would bang the pan on the burner, to even it out, and bang those bubbles out. Here are the bottoms (actually, the original tops), showing how they got smoother, and browned better.
Bottom of the second dosa, showing the areas where the bubbles had formed. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Bottom of the third or fourth one, showing a more even browning, after banging the bubbles out. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
The top (the original bottom) browned well on all of them.
Evenly browned top on one of the dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Finished batch of dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Dosa fermenting by pepperhead212, on FlickrHere is the actual cooking of the dosa
I used a 10" NS skillet, as the only CI pan that I have that is well seasoned is a square pan that would be too small to maneuver in. It took some tweaking with thinning the batter (only took a couple TB of water), and the flame level, before getting it right, and this was my first try! And I realized quickly that there was a better way to spread the batter in the pan, than the usually suggested back of the ladle, which would leave an uneven trail in the batter. I would pour the batter in using the ladle in my left hand, and quickly spread out the batter using a flat-backed spoon, which made a more even surface. I tried swirling it, like I do with crêpes, but crêpe batter is much thinner, so that made a dosa too thick. Cooking with the flame too high made it firm up too fast, as I spread it, too low, just took too long! Here's what I settled at:
Flame level settled on for dosa. by pepperhead212, on FlickrHere's that ladle and spoon I used:
Ladle and flat bottomed spoon used for the dosa. by pepperhead212, on FlickrUsing the spoon to quickly spread the batter in the pan. by pepperhead212, on FlickrIn the beginning, when I flipped the dosa there were places where bubbles had formed, so they were unevenly browned. So shortly after the batter would puff up, I would bang the pan on the burner, to even it out, and bang those bubbles out. Here are the bottoms (actually, the original tops), showing how they got smoother, and browned better.
Bottom of the second dosa, showing the areas where the bubbles had formed. by pepperhead212, on FlickrBottom of the third or fourth one, showing a more even browning, after banging the bubbles out. by pepperhead212, on FlickrThe top (the original bottom) browned well on all of them.
Evenly browned top on one of the dosa. by pepperhead212, on FlickrFinished batch of dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
