After making a delicious batch of ragi dosa’s with my mom, we still had quite a bit of batter remaining. With the left-overs, we decided to make Uthappam, which is essentially a dosa with a few added veggies. My mom served the Uthappam with her own variation of dry Hubli chutney from my father’s region in India, Mangalore. She combined dry peanut chutney with the Hubli chutney to create something savory and absolutely tantalizing.
DOSA INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup Urad (Whole Black Gram without skin)
- 1 1/2 Ragi Flour
- 2 tbsp of White Rice Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- Enough water to make a batter slightly thinner than pancake batter
- Chopped fresh Cilantro, to taste
- Chopped Vidalia Onion, to taste
- Chopped Tomatoes, to taste (OPTIONAL)
DOSA PREPARATION
Wash the Urad and then soak it for 2-3 hours. Drain the water. Grind the urad with enough water to allow your blender to spin smoothly. Once the urad is creamy and smooth, combine it with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well creating a batter that is slightly thinner than pancake batter. Cover and place in a warm environment, like an oven, for 24 hours or until the batter has fermented. You’ll know the batter has fermented when it has a lovely sour aroma and the batter is filled with bubbles. Once the batter has fermented, add the chopped veggies and fold into the batter.
To cook the dosas, heat a well-seasoned cast-iron griddle to medium. Pour a ladle-full of batter onto the center of the griddle. Press the ladle bottom lightly to the center of the batter. Spread the batter uniformly in a circular manner from the center to the edges like a coil. It should spread evenly, sticking to the hot griddle to form a 6 inch dosa. (If the batter starts lifting off the griddle while spreading, this means there’s too much oil on the griddle.) Drizzle a tsp of canola oil around the edges of the dosa and on top. Cover and cook until the dosa lifts off easily. Flip the dosa and cook for another 30-45 seconds.
CHUTNEY INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup dry shredded, unsweetened Coconut, lightly roasted
- 1 cup snack Chana
- 1/2 cup Peanuts, roasted
- 4 Red Chilies, roasted
- 1 tbsp Urad dal (Black Gram), lightly roasted
- 1 tbsp Chana dal (dry, split Chickpea), lightly roasted
- 1 tsp Coriander seeds, roasted
- 1 tsp Paprika, roasted along with Coconut, or if you like spice, you can use Kashmiri Chili to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp-1 tsp powdered Jaggery, to taste
Lightly roast all of the ingredients except the jaggery. You’ll want to roast the paprika with the coconut, adding the paprika when the coconut is very very light brown. Grind all of the ingredients together except for the peanuts. Once the dals are finely ground, add the peanuts and grind to your preferred texture. Having some chunks of peanuts can be really satisfying with this dish.
You can keep this dry chutney in the fridge and it should last for a very long time. When you serve the chutney with the dosa, take a tablespoon of the dry chutney powder and add a teaspoon of canola oil to it and mix. You can dip your Uthappam into this chutney and enjoy!
