Neer ("neer" is the sanskrit word for "water") Dosa is a common breakfast item in every south Indian and Maharashtrian household. The taste of chicken curries and stews with a coconut base is enhanced many-folds with the humble neer dosa. Neer dosa accquires the name of "Ghavan" or "Amboli" in Maharashtra and the Konkan region. This dosa also doesn't require any fermentation and hence is an item that doesn't require too much time if you have soaked the rice.
The method of making the neer dosa is fairly simple. One should soak rice (par boiled rice also works just fine) overnight. Grind it to a fine paste in the morning. Add enough water to make it of pouring consistency. Add salt as per taste. And pour this mixture onto a heated tava (frying pan) and cook it both sides to get soft, luscious neer dosas.
Additional ingredients like onion, coriander, finely chopped ginger, yogurt/ buttermilk, roasted cumin, a couple of tablespoons of besan (chickpeas flour), curry leaves, etc can be added to give variety to the basic formula.
I decided to add another ingredient which is supposed to be very healthy - Wild Bamboo Rice. Ayurveda says bamboo rice has medicinal properties. Bamboo flowers once in 40 years and hence this is relatively rare. Bamboo rice is supposed to help in controlling blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. It also eases joint, back and rheumatic pains and increases immunity. It is also used as an aphrodisiac and hence is also called wild viagra!
So here's my unique neer dosa recipe...
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 1/2 Cup
Wild Bamboo Rice - 1/2 Cup
Grated Coconut - 2-3 Tablespoons
Salt - to taste
Water - to soak and mix to make batter
Oil / ghee
Optional (You can add any one or more of these as per your liking):
Finely chopped onion - 1
Finely chopped green chillies - 1-2
Finely chopped ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Finely chopped curry leaves
Roasted cumin - 1/2 tsp
Finely chopped coriander
Besan - 2 tbsp
Buttermilk / Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Method:
1. Wash and soak the rice and bamboo rice together overnight (It should soak for a good 5-6 hours at least)
2. Grind it into a very thin paste along with the coconut in the morning. Adjust the quantity of water to pouring consistency.
3. Add salt to taste
4. You can add any of the above ingredients listed in the optional list to give different flavours. I prefer having them plain with some nice chutney. I make masala neer dosa only when I don't have the time to make chutney or any accompaniment to go with it
5. Heat a tava or frying pan properly. Sprinkle some lightly salted water. The pan should be hot enough so that the water sizzles and evaporates.
6. Then add a few drops of oil or ghee on the tava and wipe/ rub the pan with a cut slice of onion or potato. This prevents the dosas from sticking to the pan.
7. Instead of using a ladle for dropping the batter on the pan, use a rimmed vessel to pour the batter. 8. Pour the batter from a little distance using the rimmed vessel on the tava in a circular motion starting from the outer edges. This distance will enable the dosa to be sieved. The batter will sizzle and flow to spread itself.Do not pour batter over the holes that form due to the sizzle. Neer dosas have this textured (punctured with holes) appearance.
9. Let the dosa cook on one side and flip it and cook the other side.
10. A lot of people fold it into a quarter while serving.
11. Serve the hot dosas with coconut chutney. These dosas remain soft even when they cool down. These are also slightly pinkish in colour due to the Bamboo rice used. If you do not use the wild bamboo rice, they will be white in colour.
