Jain Mysore Masala Dosai (without onions)

From the pages of Wikipedia: The inventor of the masala dosa is purportedly Kadandale Krishna Bhat of Hotel Woodlands, who belongs to the Kadandale village in Karkala Taluk of Udupi district, Karnataka state, India.

Before it was invented, plain dosa was served with potato curry without onions in a separate cup. During a shortage of potatoes, he innovated a method where potato was mashed and sauted with onions and other spices, placed in the dosa instead of a separate cup. He did this to hide the onions which are not eaten by some Hindus and Jains. people enjoyed this new dosa. Hence, he named it "Masala Dosa", from the sautéeing of spices (masala) during the preparation of the bhaji.

Here is a simple recipe for mysore masala dosai. It is called so because the chutney is served in the dosai along with the bhaji and is not served separately. For dosai batter recipe, please refer the dosai recipe that I have posted. This recipe focuses on the preparation of the dosai masala.The recipe for this masala filling does not contain onions. The masala dosai is to be eaten hot with coconut/ peanut chutney and sambhar. I have used peanut chutney in the preparation of this dosai. To get a well rounded masala dosai, it must be cooked well on all sides. I have illustrated each step so that the technique is clear and precise. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the masala filling:

1. 500 gms potato ( boiled and mashed, ideally boil in the cooker/ microwave for 15
minutes and it should be done)
2. 2 green chillies, slit
3. 1 inch ginger, finely diced
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
5. salt to taste
6. juice of one lemon
7. Dosa batter ( 4 cups)
8. 1/4 cup water
9. chopped coriander - 1 bunch

Ingredients for the tempering:

1 teaspoon - mustard seeds, cummin seeds, urad dal, bengal gram dal
1 red chilli, broken in 3-4 pieces
1 pinch asafoetida
a few curry leaves

Method for potato filling:

1. First boil the potatoes, cool, peel and mash them.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a frying pan and add all the ingredients for tempering
3. Once the seeds splutter, add the green chillies and chopped ginger and mashed potaotes. Stir for a few minutes.
4. Add the turmeric, salt and 1/4 cup of water. Cook till the water is absorbed and the potato masala is semi solid.
5. Add the lemon juice.
6. Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped coriander.


Method for dosa:

1. First set the tava on the flame and turn the heat to high. After the tawa is heated,put two ladle fulls of batter with a ladle on the tawa and in quick circular motions spread it around the tawa. Put a tablespoon of chutney in the centre of the dosa and spread it in a vertical fashion.


2. Put a tablespoon of potato masala on the chutney and keep the flame on high. Let the underside of the dosa turn golden brown.

3. Turn one side of the dosa to check that the underside has turned brown. Once this happens, use a ladle and fold from one end of the dosa towards the centre as shown in the picture. However, if this is diffciult, then just fold one end of the dosai to the other end.




4. Turn the other side to neatly fold and overlap over the already folded side so that both the ends meet in the centre of the dosa.



5. Serve hot with a blob of butter on top of the dosa.