Hello to all.
This is Sruthi, an Indian housewife. I have a son of age 6. It is very
difficult for me to make him eat vegetables. It is difficult for him to eat spinach.
Every time he put some in mouth he rushed to wash basin to vomit.
Today I found a
solution to this problem. I grind some spinach leaves with dosa batter and made
dosas. My son firstly refused to eat it because its color was red.
Here the story
begins. He has an ambition of becoming an astronaut. So I told him that I made
these special Mars dosas for him so that it helps him gain strength to become
an astronaut.
This trick works.
He ate three dosas and thanked me for helping him to gain his goal. He said Mars
dosa was wonderful. I’m sharing this because I know a mother’s difficulties. Here
is the method how I prepared this “Mars Roast”. Sorry for not posting the
photos.
(Dosas are very thin pancakes usually made from rice and urad dhal (also
known as split black lentils or black gram). This crepe-like food of
India is very thin and crispy, with a taste similar to sourdough bread.
Dosas can be made small, for individuals, or larger, for people to
share. They are a good source of protein and are relatively easy to
make.)
Making the Batter
Ingredients
1) 2 cups rice, rinsed
2) 1/2
cup urad dhal*, rinsed (*split black lentils)
3) 1/2
tsp fenugreek seeds
4) Filtered
water
5) 1
tsp salt
· Soak
the rice, dhal, fenugreek seeds and leave it for 4 hours minimum.
· Grind the
urad dhal and fenugreek. A wet grinder is the best option for this, but a food
processor or blender may work as well. Add the soaked dhal one handful at a
time into the grinder.
If it seems dry, try adding a bit of the
liquid that the dhal soaked in.
The dahl should have a creamy, fluffy
texture.
The
grinding will likely take around 15 minutes.
When complete, remove the dhal from the
grinder and place in a large bowl.
· Grind the rice.
You do not need to wash the grinder between grinding the dahl and the rice. Add
all of the rice and one cup of the water that the rice soaked in to the grinder
and grind for 20 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth but gritty.
· Combine the rice batter and
the urad dhal. Place the rice batter into the
bowl with the dahl, add the salt, and combine all of the ingredients by mixing
them with your (clean!) hands. Cover loosely with a cloth or a lid that is not
air-tight.
Be sure that any lid is not air-tight. Air
expansion is necessary for the fermentation process.
· Allow the batter to ferment.
The mixture now needs to ferment by sitting in a warm place for 8-10 hours.
The best temperature for fermentation is 80–90
°F (27– 32 °C).
Leave
the mixture out on the counter or in a warm room if you live in a warm climate.
If you
do not have an area that is the appropriate temperature, place the batter in
the oven in your home with the oven light on. The light bulb will produce
enough heat to allow for fermentation but not enough to begin to cook the
batter.
· Check the batter.
After 8-10 hours, check the batter. It should have a frothy appearance, and it
should have grown twice its original size. If it has not, you may need to leave
it a little longer. If the batter is too thick to allow for pouring, add some water.
· Refrigerate the batter until
you are ready to cook. Ideally, you should try to
cook the batter after it has had time to ferment, but if you need time between
the fermentation and the cooking, place the batter in your fridge.
Making
the spinach mix
Take a hand full of spinach leaves. Clean it
thoroughly. Grind it with a little water in a blender. Using a sieve, filter the spinach mix
into a bowl. Add some batter to it and mix well with a spoon. Add some turmeric
powder also.
Cooking
the Mars Roast
· After
bringing the batter to room temperature, let’s heat the tawa (cooking pan for
dosa).
· Season
the cooking surface with vegetable oil.
· When
it’s hot, pour a ladle full of batter into it and spread it even with the
ladle.
· Cook
until the bottom of the batter has browned to your preference and the top has
become firm. You may see bubbles emerge and then pop, leaving small holes on
the top of your dosa.
· Flip
the dosa with a spatula
· Wait
about 40 seconds and remove the “Mars Roast” from the pan.
· It
tastes great with coconut chutney.
Try it at home I’m
sure your kids would love it.
