VELLA DOSAI

 

VELLA DOSAI

Today's recipe is for a dosai made with jaggery! Yes, that's right. It is a sweet dosa popular in Tamilnadu which can be served for breakfast or as a snack. We prefer to have this as an evening snack. 

In Tamil, jaggery is called Vellam, hence the name for this dish. Jaggery is called Bella in Kannada, Gur in Hindi and Godda in my mother tongue, Konkani.

Another advantage with today's recipe is that it can be made fast as the batter need not be fermented. 

Please note that the amount of jaggery used will depend on your individual taste. Some like things very sweet, others less so. However, too much of jaggery can result in the dosa getting burnt or getting stuck to the tawa.

Also the colour of the dosa will depend on the colour of the jaggery used. As you know, the older jaggery tends to give off a darker colour. 

You may notice that this dosai takes longer to cook than the regular dosai. It is advisable to make the dosai using medium/low flame. 

The Vella Dosai can be eaten as it is without any accompaniment. If you wish you can serve it with some ghee or butter. They are best served hot off the tawa. 

Ingredients:- 

• Vellam ( Jaggery), grated,  a little more than 1/2 cup
• Rice Flour, 1/2 cup
• Wheat Flour, 1/2 cup
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 2 tbsp
• Cardamom Powder,  1/4 tsp
• Salt, a pinch
• Ghee, as required to make the dosais 

Method:- 

In a vessel mix the grated jaggery with 1/2 cup of water and heat till the jaggery melts

Remove from flame and allow it to cool

Filter the jaggery solution to get rid of impurities if any

In a large bowl, mix together the rice flour, wheat flour, coconut gratings and cardamom powder with the jaggery solution and a pinch of salt

Make sure the ingredients are well mixed and no lumps are formed 

Now add the required amount of water to make a dosa batter which is not too thick or too thin 

Rest the batter for 10-15 minutes

Heat a tawa and lightly grease it with ghee 

Lower the flame and pour a ladleful of the batter 

Spread the batter lightly in a circular motion to make a dosai 

Drizzle ghee around the dosai and roast till the edges get done 

Next flip the dosai and roast the other side by adding more ghee as required

Serve hot