Crispy Rava Dosa (Semolina savory crepe)

 My kids always bet on what dosa I would order when we go to any South Indian restaurant and win every time...Rava dosa. They know I'll talk about all kinds of dosa on the menu and end up ordering rava dosa. Oh the crispy crepe filled with onion, green chili, and cashew nuts, makes me salivate just writing about it. Last week I watched chef Venkatesh Bhatt on YouTube. He taught the art of making perfect restaurant style crispy onion rava dosa. I make pretty decent rava dosa myself, my friends would attest :) I followed Vekatesh's recipe and made the most awesome crispy rava dosa over the weekend. I also made a spicy mint chutney to go with it. My son just couldn't stop eating.

Ingredients:

1 Cup coarse rava (semolina)

3/4 Cup rice flour

3/4 Cup all purpose flour (maida)

5 Cups water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon peppercorn

2 teaspoons broken cashew nuts

1 Tablespoon thinly sliced ginger

1 Tablespoon chopped green chili

1 Tablespoon chopped curry leaves

salt as required

1 teaspoon asafoetida

1 onion, very finely chopped

oil and ghee for making dosa

Method:

1. Measure 1 cup of rava into a  large deep bowl. Take out a handful of rava and keep aside.

2. Add 3/4 cup each of rice flour and all purpose flour to it. 

3. Add sugar, cumin seeds, peppercorn, cashew nuts, chopped ginger, chili, and curry leaves. 

4. Pour 4 cups of water, required salt and whisk well into a thin batter, until there are no lumps. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.

5. When you are ready to prepare the dosa, check for salt and add if needed. Add asafoetida and the rava that was kept aside. Add 1 cup of water and mix well. Adding little bit of rava before making dosa will give the crunchy taste to the dosa. 

6. Heat the griddle to medium heat. Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil in the center of the griddle. Sprinkle  a little chopped onion on the oil. 

7. Stir the batter well every time before pouring on the griddle. Take 1/2 cup of batter. Pour it on the griddle from the outside to the center into a thin crepe. Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil on top. 

8. Cook the dosa on low heat until you see dark brown spots. You can see the color change on the edges too. Be patient if you want a crispy dosa. Do not turn it over. When you think it is crispy, sprinkle some ghee;gently fold dosa in half and make another fold into  a triangle. Slide dosa onto a plate. 

9. Serve crispy onion rava dosa with any chutney. I made spicy mint chutney.

Note:

1. Adding sugar to the batter brings out the golden brown color to the dosa, the sugar caramelizes and brings out the color.

2. Adding the rava in the end brings out the crunchiness in the dosa. 

3. Just before folding the dosa, after sprinkling ghee you can sprinkle some milagai podi (gun powder) to make podi dosa.

4. You can add potato masala to make rava masala dosa.

5. Make sure that chutney is thick. Runny chutney will make the dosa soggy.