Neer Dosa

Thin, light, soft and extremely tasty, Neer Dosa is one of the popular Dosa varieties of Karnataka. The texture of Neer Dosa is delicate and is simply delightful to have as a Breakfast or at any time of the day.

It has been almost 7 months since we moved to Norway. From past 2 months, I have been missing my mum and her food very badly. My granny is from Mangalore and my mum learnt many Mangalorean dishes from her. One of them being Neer Dosa and my mum makes the best Neer Dosa I've ever tasted. :D I have tasted Neer Dosa from quite a lot of Restaurants and Hotels and also at my work place, but none of them was better than my Mum's dosa. =P~ Anyway, I had this craving for my mum's Neer Dosa and there was no other way to eat it other than making it myself.

Neer Dosa is pretty simple to make. Though the recipe does not call for fermentation overnight, it is a fail-safe way to make sure the batter is perfect. If the rice is not soaked well, the dosa cracks and does not cook well. If the batter is too runny, then Dosa sticks to the pan. If the batter is too thick, then it gives you thick Dosas and not the thin, soft ones. I love Neer dosa soft but naveen likes it a little crunchy. So I cook them in simmer till they turn slightly brown and crispy. Neer Dosa is usually served with a non-veg curry in Non-vegetarian homes. We, vegetarians serve Neer Dosa with Melted jaggery or Thick coconut chutney and sometimes with banana or Mango rasayana.

U know you have succeeded in making perfect Neer dosa when your Neer Dosa has tiny holes all over and soft yet well cooked. When you stack Neer Dosa, make sure you don't put one on top of the other since they stick to each other and it is impossible to separate them. They taste best when they are hot and fresh but they even make good lunch box dish since they taste almost as good as the ones that were hot.
*Please don't mind the quality of the pics. Morning's are usually rush since Naveen leaves very early and I had to take the pics of making the batter in a hurry.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	78		Calories
Fat	2		%
Carbohydrates	7		%
Dietary Fiber	1		%
Sodium	1		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	1		%
Iron	6		%
Protein	1.8		Grams
Sugar	0		Grams

Ingredients
Raw Rice (preferably Sona Masuri)	1 & 1/2 cups
Grated Coconut	1/2 cup
Salt	to taste
Water	as required
Oil	to grease the pan

• Wash and soak overnight or at least 6 hours.
• Drain the water and grind the rice along with grated coconut to a fine paste. Add water as required while grinding. To check if the paste is smooth, you can rub the batter between fingers. If the paste is course, then grind till it's smooth.

• Add water to make the batter to buttermilk consistency. The consistency of the batter is perfect if it does not stick to the back of the ladle. Then add salt and mix well.
• Heat a Dosa pan/Tava, grease it with oil or ghee. Pour a ladleful of batter on the pan. There is no need to spread the batter with the back of the ladle. Cook in medium flame. Once the sides start to leave the pan, fold in half and serve hot.

• If you make a large batch of batter, do not add salt to the batter which you are going to refrigerate. That will keep the batter unspoiled for almost a week. 

Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian is an Indo Chinese appetizer which is most popular in India. Slightly crunchy cauliflower with lip-smacking, sticky, tangy and spicy sauce, Gobi Manchurian gives you a punch of mouthful of flavors and also the experience of the fusion of Indian and Chinese flavors.

I had to take a short break from blogging for personal reasons but not a day passed by without me missing writing posts. Needless to say, I took a long time to write this post and decided to post this recipe because it is healthier version of the regular Gobi Manchurian. Many foodies and bloggers hate people like us who modify the original recipes trying to make them healthier and guilt-free. They think we change the taste of authentic dishes and make them less desirable. If you are both health freak and a foodie like me, you will definitely understand the reason why the world started the word "Guilt-free". :D Nevertheless, I have other reasons for modifying the authentic dishes one of them being; creating a guilt free version of an authentic recipe without changing the taste, the level of satisfaction it gives and making it healthier, is a tough challenge. Who does not love challenges? ;)

The chef who inspired me most recently is Teresa Cutter from The Healthy Chef series. Also, one of the greatest chef's of all time Roger Vergé says "A recipe is not meant to be followed exactly — it is a canvas on which you can embroider". Anyone can follow the measurements of Ingredients and steps of a dish and prepare it. I believe that as long as the dish you have modified is as good as the original (or better!!), you can play around with ingredients. Who knows, you may even create dishes of your own and name it yourself! /:) Anyway, this recipe is not modified too much except that the battered Gobis are baked to crisp instead of deep frying and I have garnished with coriander leaves instead of Spring onions only because I could not find them in the market. :) The recipe is very simple and tastes just like the one you enjoy it as an evening snack on the streets of Bangalore and as a starter at pricey restaurants anywhere in India.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	145		Calories
Fat	7		%
Carbohydrates	20		%
Dietary Fiber	4.3		%
Sodium	230		mg
Vitamin A	11.2		%
Vitamin C	11.3		%
Calcium	21.9		%
Iron	8.1		%
Protein	3.9		Grams
Sugar	6.6		Grams

Ingredients
Cauliflower	1 medium
Corn flour(for batter)	1/4 cup
Wheat flour or All purpose flour	3/4 cup
Baking powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Garam masala (optional)	1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Water	as required
Soy sauce	2 tablespoons
Tomato sauce	2 tablespoons
Chilli sauce	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Corn flour (for sauce)	1 & 1/2 teaspoons
Oil	2 teaspoons
Onion chopped	1 small
Cilantro or Spring onion	to garnish

• Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Blanch them in salt water for 5-6 minutes.
• Mix Corn flour, wheat flour, Baking powder, salt, Garam masala, chilli powder, half of ginger garlic paste and water to make a thick batter.
• Coat all the florets in the batter and transfer it to a baking plate lined with baking sheet.
• Bake the florets in a Preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or till the florets get evenly browned. (Make sure to flip them halfway through baking). 

• Meanwhile, mix together soy sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, and salt.
• Toss the florets to the middle of the oven for few minutes to make them crispier.
• To thicken sauce, mix corn flour with 1/4 cup of water and make sure no lumps are formed.
• In a pan, heat oil and add chopped onion. Once the onion looks translucent, add the remaining ginger garlic paste.

• Add the sauce mixture and corn flour mixture and mix well. Check for salt more and add if needed.
• Bring the mixture to boil under low flame. Cook till the sauce is thick and remove from heat.
• Add the baked florets to the sauce, toss them well. Garnish with chopped spring onion or cilantro and serve hot.

• You can deep fry the florets instead of baking them.
• I have garnished with cilantro since Spring onions are not available here. Do garnish with spring onions if you can get your hands on them.
• Be careful while adding Soy sauce and add little quantity since they change the color of the dish.
• Skip either chilli sauce in sauce or chilli powder in batter if you desire less spicy dish.
• Make sure the cauliflower florets are blanched well.