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Tender Coconut Dosa

Last month, as Alter Idem turned four, I realised that so far, I have not written anything about cooking. Maybe, I should count this one as a post with some cooking....

Actually, cooking is such an inexhaustible topic that I know what I'll do. Whenever I feel like writing a post, and can't think of something interesting, I'll share an indigenous recipe......

 I'll begin with my all-time favourite dosa - the Tender Coconut Dosa.



To serve about 2-3 people, you will need 3 cups
of rice - washed and soaked for a couple of hours; 2 1/2 to 3 cups of tender coconut pieces - the kind that's too raw to be used in dishes and too fleshy to be eaten as it is; salt to taste.








Grind all the ingredients to a fine batter. Add enough water to arrive at a paint-like consistency.   
This batter shouldn't be allowed to ferment.
In fact, the left-over batter should be immediately refridgerated. 




Spread the batter evenly on a warm griddle. Cover with a lid. After a minute on medium flame, remove the lid, turn over & cook for another minute. Before turning over, you can add a little ghee - for the extra flavour and taste!

That's all! Quite a simple one, right?! The only difficulty is in procuring the coconut that's just right!

You know, when this dosa is being made, there's a heavenly aroma around. If you could stimulate virtual smell, by now you'd be feeling very hungry!

Tender Coconut dosa tastes good with chutney/ sambaar/ jam/ honey/ chutney-powder/... anything. One popular accompaniment is what a foodie friend of mine refers to as Jag-Coco mix. I think, I'll call it Coco-Jag mix!

Coco-Jag mix , like the name suggests is a mixture of grated coconut & scraped jaggery. Adjust the proportions to suit your taste.
Since we don't like it very sweet here, I mix about 1/2 a cup of grated coconut with a little more than 1/4 cup of scraped jaggery. And, a dash of powdered cardamom - for extra flavour.

My mother was a huge fan of Coco-Jag mix. She would mix in some thin poha (beaten rice) with left-over Coco-Jag mix and relish it as a snack between meals.

Instead of tender coconut, you can grind any finely chopped vegetable like carrot/ ridge gourd/ bottle gourd/ raw or ripe banana/ raw or ripe jackfruit/ chayote/ salad or sambaar cucumber/ ash gourd,.... with rice and salt and make dosas. It is one of the easiest ways to introduce your children to vegetables. Consider the water content in the vegetable while adding water to make the batter.

There! I had intended to share one recipe and have ended up sharing four!!

 Like I said before... cooking is an inexhaustible topic!!


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