Instant Vermicelli Dosa

There is a lot of ‘today’ in this post and each one is special to me…

 Today is Kaarthigai Deepam , a festival that is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Andra and it occurs in the month of  Karthigai[Mid November- mid December].This occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the Karthigai (Pleiades) and purnimai[Full moon]. This constellation appears as a
group of six stars in the firmament in the shape of a pendant from the
ear.[Source- Wiki].Agal Vilakku / Terracotta lamps are lit in the evening and the homes and the place around the home are decorated with these lamps.

In the morning, we lit a lamp with 365 wicks for the festival and the
number of wicks represent the days of the year, meaning its like
lighting this lamp for each day of the year. 

Everything is ready here for the evening but it is raining and Lil Angel is really unhappy because we will not be able to decorate the outside with lamps! She is sincerely praying that it stops raining by the time we are ready to light the lamps in the evening.

Today also happens to be my birthday  but I wasn’t actually born on this date! Sounds very improbable right! If you are an Indian, you will probably nod your head in understanding.We follow the lunar calender where the days and festivals are marked in accordance to the 12 stars. And a few decades ago I was born on the Kaarthigai Deepam day [which fell on another date that year] and hence it is my birthday today!

Mom couldn’t help but recollect the day I was born! It was as rainy and gloomy as today but I am sure my parents hearts were filled with all the brightness and joy in the world!!!

Anyway, as a kid I had a great time celebrating two birthdays each year – one ‘star birthday’ and the other date of birth. So I got 2 dress and mom made sweets on both the days!Good old times….

And Today,we are starting the third week of Blogging Marathon # 34 and the theme I have chosen is Instant Dosa / Idli. This theme is one of my favorites as I love dosas and especially the instant ones.

 So now I think you know why today is special for me…

For the first days recipe, I chose this one from Chef Vineet Bhatia’s – Twist of Taste show. In this show he made this dosa with a raw banana curry filling and served it with a thick and creamy Beetroot Raita. I, however, made just the dosa and served with sambar and chutney.

The dosa was good and I will be adding this to my breakfast repertoire  . Though we call this instant dosa, it has a soaking time of 15 minutes. But during this time you can prepare the side dish .Hence the name is totally justified, right….

Instant Vermicelli Dosa
Makes :5 medium sized dosas [may be more or less depending the quantity of batter used to make each dosa]

I used :

Pre roasted vermicelli – 1/2 cup
Rice flour – 1/4 cup
Curd – 1 cup
Grated carrot – 1/8 cup / 1 carrot
Finely chopped coriander leaves a handful
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

1. In a bowl take the vermicelli, rice flour and curd.

2. Add salt, coriander leaves, carrot, cumin seeds and mix well. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

3.After the resting time, mix once again. If the mixture is too thick, add
a little curd / water. The consistency of the batter should not be too
watery like rava dosa batter. If you feel it is very watery, add a
little rice flour.

Heat a griddle and pour a ladle full of batter in the centre and spread it gently. Cover and cook for two minutes.Drizzle oil if needed. If the edges leave the griddle, slide a flat ladle around the edges and gently flip it over. Cook on the other side for a few minutes.

To check if it done, touch the dosa in the centre and if the batter does not stick to your finger, then it is done, else cook for a few mire minutes.

 Serve immediately with a side dish of your choice…

Note:

• This tastes best if eaten hot off the griddle. After a while [when it cools down] it becomes a little chewy.
• Adding carrot and coriander is optional but adds to the taste.
• In addition to the carrot and coriander, finely chopped onion, green chilies, curry leaves can be added.
• It is best if the batter is rested for  at least15 minutes. But don’t soak for more than half an hour as the vermicelli becomes gooey. 
• If the dosa sticks to the griddle, remove the bits and spread a teaspoon of oil on the griddle.Rub the griddle with the cut side of an onion and then prepare dosas. Also cook it on medium flame.
• If pre roasted vermicelli is not available, roast the vermicelli on medium heat for a few minutes till it turns light brown.
• I used Anil brand Vermicelli for this recipe.

You might also like to try out these instant varieties…

• Instant Rava Roast
• Instant Pearl Millet Oats dosa
• Instant Oats Dosa
• Kadhamba Dosai
• Instant Wheat flour dosa
• Instant Oats- Sago Dosa
• Instant Palak Dosa
• Instant Ragi Dosa 
• [Almost] Instant Bread dosa

Take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM #34

Bon Appetit…