Cabbage Dosa or Savoury Cabbage Pancakes

Cabbage is  not a very exciting vegetable to eat.

But you know, I see fresh vegetables, I go a bit crazy. I want to grab all the lovely bright, shiny vegetables in sight.What to do with them, is then another story.

So when  I saw some lovely cabbages at the greengrocersI bought them. The cabbage itself was lovely – slightly flat and really beautiful to look at. I thought that converting it into a usual sabji would be really boring and a complete waste of such a beauty.

That’s the story of these cabbages… they transformed themselves into the most gorgeous dosas- and yes, they were a hit! Quick and really yummy, these dosas are perfect for breakfast or a teatime snack.

And of course, it is a sure-shot way of getting those little dosa lovers to eat anything in the shape of one – with vegetables or otherwise.

Ingredients

• Dosa rice- 1 cup
• Chana or Arhar Dal- 3/4 cup
• Dry Red chillies 2
• Onions, finely chopped- 1/4- (optional)
• Cabbage, finely chopped- 1/2 cup
• Coriander, finely chopped- 1/4 cup (optional)
• Grated coconut- 1/4 cup ( I used frozen )
• Cumin seeds- 2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- for frying

Method

1. Soak rice and dal for a couple of hours. I like to add the dry chillies and jeera in the same water as they soak. You just need to fish them out quite carefully and grind with the rice and dal. I find that this way, the dosa gets a lovely colour. Of course, you could soak them in a small separate bowl, they are easier to handle that way. And well, if you forget to soak them, just chuck them in while grinding. Its ok.
2. After a few hours, just check that the dal breaks, if you try to break it- that its not very hard anymore, then its good to blend.                                              
3. Put everything- dal, rice, jeera, red chillies and coconut and salt  into a  blender and make a paste. You don’t need a very fine paste, but a thickish paste that is spreadable. Do not add too much water while grinding.
4. 
5. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add in the finely chopped cabbage, onion and coriander. Although I chop the coriander and onion very finely by hand, I entrust the job of mincing the cabbage to my beloved food processor. Just my efforts to make all evidence (vegetables, of course) disappear. Sometimes, I don’t put in the onions, specially if my little boss is in a fowl mood 🙂

5. Heat the tava or flat pan. Grease with oil. I love using my pastry brush for all these jobs.

6. Because the dosa batter is  thickish due to the vegetables, the dosas  cannot be spread large and circular like a normal dosa, but have to be poured out into little discs, and fry 3-4 at a time- as many as your pan can hold. 

7. With a spoon thats been sitting in oil, drizzle some oil on the sides and top of the dosa. 

 8. Flip when the underside is brown, in about 3-4 minutes. Cook the other side similarly.

 9. This dosa is very lovely and spicy in taste- you don’t really need to make a chutney with it.

Ketchup works best in my house.