Dosai, a south Indian contribution to world gastronomy

The word tosai or dosai is mentioned in tamil literature from the Sangam period dated about 6th century AD¹. However, dosai seems to have become more popularly known as dosa both in India and in the rest of the world. Regardless of the term, dosai may have originated in southern India due to the predominance of rice cultivation.

Dosai is a crêpe-like dish made from a fermented batter of finely ground rice, black gram, and some fennel seeds. Below, is a method to make dosai:

Parboiled rice

Raw rice

Black gram (vigna mungo or urad dhal): skinned

Fenugreek seeds

Salt

Water

Oil (any neutral tasting oil or clarified butter)

Use the proportion three parts parboiled rice to one part raw rice to one part black gram to about half tablespoon fenugreek seeds. Wash the rice several times and soak in plenty of water using a large vessel. Repeat this process with the black gram and fennel seeds in a separate vessel. Soak for at least eight hours at room temperature. There will be a visible change in the size of the dry ingredients as they rehydrate. Using a stone-on-stone wet grinder (or a blender with blades), grind the black gram and fennel seeds with enough water to make a thick and smooth batter. Next, grind the rice to also form a thick and smooth batter. Mix the two batters and add salt. To ferment, fill a large glass bowl with batter to about the halfway mark, cover with an oven-safe plate, and then place in a 200˚F pre-heated but switched-off oven with the oven light turned-on for about eight to twelve hours or until the batter has doubled in volume, and appears light and filled with many tiny bubbles. Using a nonstick or cast iron pan that is lightly greased with oil, and is at low heat, pour enough batter and spread into a thin layer. Add a little oil to the edges of the spread batter and increase heat. Depending on the thickness of the dosai, a lid might be used to cover the pan to cook the top, thicker parts of the dosai that is not in direct contact with the heat. When the edges of the dosai are crisp and begin to lift-off the pan surface, using a thin spatula, gently lift and roll the dosai onto a plate.

The stone-on-stone grinder is the ideal way to get a smooth and fluffy dosai batter from the hydrated yet hard ingredients. Modern technology has allowed for this process to be automated in the form of an electric wet-grinder, and to an extent the electric blade-based blender. However, before the advent of technology, and actually even to this day in low socio-economic Indian households, it is quite common to hand-grind dosai batter using a large stone-on-stone mortar and pestle. If the effort to hand grind the batter was remarkable, the frequency with which it was done, was even more remarkable.

The process of fermenting the dosai batter is natural and is mostly mediated by bacteria present in ambient air. It does not involve the addition of any leavening agent like yeast or any starter cultures. The temperature and humidity have to be adequate for efficient growth and multiplication of the fermentation-causing microbes, and hence the warmth of an oven helps in parts of the world where room air is not warm and humid.  The ease of spreading the batter on a warm pan, the many tiny holes that appear and the slightly sour taste in the cooked dosai, are a direct result of good fermentation.

A women sitting on the ground and hand-grinding dosai batter (sadly, men infrequently contributed to this task of strength, endurance and diligence), that she then uses to make thin dosai on a cast iron pan, is an iconic symbol of south Indian kitchens for more reasons than one.

I grew-up eating a lot of dosai, and wanted to do so even more. It was one of my top choices. However, over the last eighteen years, after I moved from India to America, and started to cook, I have barely tried making dosai, and have only periodically eaten them at Indian restaurants. The craving for it has always been there when I thought about it or spoke about it with family and friends, but I guess I had just stopped thinking and talking about it often.

To the person who now makes me think of dosai more often than I can remember, Happy Birthday!

Reference:

1. Indian food: a historical companion by KT Achaya