SERVES 4–6
Indian food was a staple for Tamal growing up in a yoga ashram. His parents loved cooking Vedic food and taught all of their children the culinary arts of India. Tamal loves masala dosa, but traditionally it requires using white rice and vegetable oil. He modified this recipe with whole-grain brown rice, urad dal (black lentils that are husked and split, so they are yellow in color for this recipe), and extra-virgin coconut oil to create a variation so light and crispy, you can’t tell it’s been modified at all. The only difference is how you feel after you eat it. Rather than becoming tired enough to take a nap, you’ll feel like working out or getting things accomplished. This dish delivers a perfect protein with good fats. In short, Tamal’s recipe is scrumptious and energizing! The batter needs to be prepared one day before you will be serving the dish.
1 cup long-grain brown rice (preferably jasmine)
½ cup urad dal
4 cups water
½ tsp. fenugreek
1 tsp. Himalayan pink salt
Coconut oil for cooking
1 Rinse the rice and dal. Soak in a bowl with 4 cups of water for 8–10 hours.
2 Drain the rice-dal mixture over a bowl, reserving the water it soaked in. Place the mixture in a food processor with 1½ cups of the soaking water and the fenugreek and salt. Blend until smooth. It should look like pancake batter.
3 Pour the dosa batter into a bowl, cover, and let it sit at room temperature in a dark place for 10–15 hours to ferment.
4 Pour ¼ cup of the batter into a large nonstick pan and spread into a thin circle with the back of a spoon. After cooking over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, you will see the dough is not wet anymore on the top side. Lightly brush ¼ tsp. of coconut oil on the top side and cook for 1 more minute, or until you see the dosa browning through the bottom and it looks crispy — that’s how you’ll know it’s ready. (Only cook on one side.) Remove from the pan with a large spatula and set on a serving plate. We like to make one dosa at a time and serve it hot immediately.
5 To serve, fill the dosa with the filling from the Samosa Pot Pie recipe, fold it in half, and top it with Cashew Cream Everything Sauce and Avocado Mint Chutney. Repeat the dosa-making process until all the batter is used.
This dish requires 8–10 hours of soaking and sprouting time for the rice and dal. Be sure to allow for this time when preparing it.
