Thursday, December 4, 2008

Winter Melon Dosa with Onion-Ginger Chutney

Is the thanksgiving week over already? It seems like just a day ago I was looking forward to the 4 day weekend with lot of things planned and now can't believe it flew off so fast! Though I was looking forward to this holiday, my excitement for the weekend disappeared after hearing the Mumbai horror. It was heartbreaking to see so many innocent people being killed by some crazy bunch of people. To watch it live on TV was even more terrifying. Would we ever be able to defeat the evil and anti-social element called Terrorism once for all? My thoughts and prayers go for all the victims' families affected in this tragedy and hats off to all those commandos who did a terrific job in saving many lives.

I know I've not posted anything for more than a week now. The downside of a holiday weekend is that it makes it so hard to get back to routine after that. We had our friend's family visiting us last weekend and that kept us busy for all 4 days. We were continously out-of-doors moving around the city and had a hectic, but good time. Well, after the weekend, it has taken me a couple of days to recuperate my mood for my usual schedule. Its hard to keep up any kind of routine during holidays and I've been lazing around for a couple of days even after the holiday was over. I am here finally with yet another of my favorite recipe.

I had big plans for cooking while they were here, but nothing really got accomplished. Sometimes, no matter how well I plan my menu ahead, they all end up in vain and I wind up making my own decisions in the last minute. Especially, when we have outdoor plans, nothing gets executed per schedule. This weekend was like that. In spite of having my well-planned menu (atleast thats what I thought), I hardly followed it. But, one good thing is I learnt some new recipes from my good friend who visited us. She is a great cook and I always loved her healthy and authentic recipes! One of the most exciting moments in the kitchen for me is learning new recipes by watching the experts actually do it! I happened to see quite a few recipes like that and can't wait to try each of them on my own.

Have you ever had Poosanikkai Dosai (Ash gourd Dosai)? If you haven’t, don’t worry. I hadn't either until a few days before. And I don't think I'm overstating when I say that its now become one of my favorite dishes! There are several reasons for liking this dish, first of all the batter doesn't require fermentation and can be used immediately. Second, the fact that we're consuming a vegetable too along with dosa. Third and most important, if I have to like a recipe, it has to be simple :) And this is really a simple dish! I learnt this recipe from my friend over the weekend, and today I tried for the first time on my own. My first instinct when I heard about this dish was a bit of surprise that we could combine Poosanikai with Dosa! All I had known to do before with this vegetable was koottu and sambar. But ever since I heard about this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it eventhough I was a little nervous about the dosa batter consistency etc. Fortunately it turned out very good and crispy. A special thanks to my good friend for sharing such a nice recipe!

Ingredients:

  • Winter Melon (Vellai Poosani/Ash Gourd) - 2 cups (peeled, deseeded & chopped into 1 inch cubes)
  • Raw rice - 1.5 cups
  • Urad dal - 2 tbsp
  • Methi seeds - 1 tbsp
  • Yogurt - 1/2 cup (if its not sour enough, you need 1 cup)
Procedure
  • Soak the rice, dal and methi seeds overnight.
  • First grind the winter melon to a smooth paste along with a little salt. Set aside.
  • Then grind the soaked ingredients with some more salt and mix it with the melon paste. You can also add the melon paste to this mixture and give it a round in the blender, so that they are now mixed thoroughly. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Add the yogurt and then sufficient water to make it to a dosa batter consistency. The batter shouldn't be thick nor too thin. You are now ready to start making dosas!
We enjoyed this with a yummy Onion-ginger chutney. I learnt this chutney also from my same friend and the combination was heavenly. Here is the chutney recipe:



Ingredients:

  • Onion - 1 medium
  • R.chillies - 4
  • Ginger - 1 inch
  • Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
  • Chana dal - 1 tbsp
  • Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
  • Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

  • Heat 2 tsp oil and add mustard seeds first. Once they pop, add the chana dal and fry until it turns light brown.
  • Add R.chillies, Onions, Ginger, Tamarind paste and Coconut one by one in the specified order and fry each of them for about a min.
  • Grind the mixture along with salt to a thick paste. Yummy Onion-Ginger chutney is ready!

You can also season with mustard seeds before serving, but thats just optional. Goes well with idlis/dosas.

36 comments:

anudivya said...

Wow, never heard of winter melon dosai. Looks and sounds pretty nice.
The earlier post with the rice, looks so pretty and colorful! Great job Sujatha.

Cham said...

Poosanikai dosa ??? Naan kelvi pattadai illai Suja! But really good indulging veg for the kids who dislike veg and i love it is instant! The chutney with ginger great for winter days!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

totally new to me. would like to give it a try.. but i don't get pooshnikai here :( i saw ur kashmiri pulav right after u posted it dear.. i had also posted my comments :) they look just out of the world Sujatha.

Sujatha said...

Its sounded very new for me too Cham! But my mom told that she used to add a bit of poosanikai in the regular dosa batter to make it crispy! I didn't know that either..
But as you said, the fact of consuming a veggie, especially for picky kids like my daughter, these recipes are life savers..

BTW, your new photo (blog logo) is cute.. kalakkureenga! :)

Sujatha said...

Sorry Mahimaa, I now remember your comment on my kashmiri pulao recipe :) Your pulao also looks beautiful..

Deepthi Shankar said...

my mom makes ash gourd dosas N they are just excellent .. i love them .. loved the ginger-onion combination in chutney

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow, onion and ginger chutney sounds new and melon dosa also sounds new. Pics make me drool. Bookmarked.

Uj said...

Never heard of Dosa with wintermelon... Get lots of them here.. got to try this for my hubby who loves dosas!

Shama Nagarajan said...

wow....crisy..drooling

Laavanya said...

My MIL makes this dosai too. Looks awesome and the chutney is just great.

Suganya said...

This is so cool. Different recipe. Looks so good. YUM!

Finla said...

This dosa is really new to me.
It looks so yummy and crispy

@the_whisk_affair said...

The dosa looks so crispy and who can resist the combo!!

Oh my!! Cudnt help but say wow! to the pic of Kashmiri pulao!

and also, I'm hosting an event on my blog, pls check it out at ur leisure!

Sagari said...

dosa with watermelon ,very new for me sujatha , looks yummyy

CurryLeaf said...

Completely new,looks nice and will try and get back.

Anonymous said...

that is an interesting touch to a dosa... never heard of it before...

Usha said...

Wow, dosai with winter melon, never heard of such a thing, but looks delicious and I agree, such a simple recipe,love it....the chutney looks fantastic too :-)

Unknown said...

wow...poosanikai dosai looks yummy sujatha...n the chutney also...

Uma said...

winter melon in dosa? Now that's unique. Looks so delicious and the chutney looks fabulous too!

Premyscakes said...

Even me never heard of melon dosai, sounds yummy. Chutney, i just luv this and also make in the same way the only difference is i add coriander leaves at last which will taste really good.

Sum Raj said...

awsome breakfast..dosa looks crispy..

delhibelle said...

both the dosa & chtney look mouthwatering

Vaishali said...

These dosas look terrific, Sujatha. Never eaten dosas with ash gourd in them before. A great idea!

Archy said...

Wonderful wintermelon dosa with onion ginger chutney .. pic is so tempting to try it soon !!

Gita Jaishankar said...

This is very new recipe to me. The picture looks good too. Chutney with onion and ginger sounds great. I am sure this combo must be soo good :)

Sunshinemom said...

Nice variation to the ordinary dosai. My MIL uses the oblong big cucumber we use for Vishu, but ours is Yellavan, isn't it? Chutney looks good too:)

Raks said...

I have heard but notyet tried,looks so good sujatha!
Onion ginger chutney is new to me:)

Jaishree Iyer said...

Wow, never heard of winter melon dosai.Pics make me drool. Bookmarked.

vandana rajesh said...

yummy crispy dosa...an anytime treat indeed

Malar Gandhi said...

Heard about this recipe....even mashed one of those orange pumpkin, but was skeptical to try....so threw it away. Maybe I should gather Courage to try with winter melon first. You made it intereessting....trying something new never lets us down....will certainly give a shot.

Priya Suresh said...

Wow never heard about this...looks delicious..

Ranjani said...

Phenomenal looking dosas...sounds very unusual and interesting!

Great pics:)

Purva Desai said...

This is a new dosa, and seems convenient one as requires no fermenting the batter.....chutney also looks yumm...

Enjoy the festivities by participating in Christmas Feast Event..

notyet100 said...

combo looks so sos divine,..;-)

Anonymous said...

hi sujatha,

lil confusion....you have mentioned yoghurt in the ingredient and haven't mentioned anywhere in the method. Please let me know the usage of yoghurt.And anywayz....it is interesting. wanna try out

Sujatha said...

Hi, Yes.. I missed the yogurt part and I've added that in the recipe now. It should be added at the end while making the batter along with water, if needed. Its usually added to give the sour taste without fermenting the batter.

Thanks for pointing the mistake.. And good luck with the Dosa!