#Covid19#Lockdown Special# Parboiled Rice Dosa

Happy for the new recipe during lockdown 

Attukallu in our garden surrounds the red palm 

Lockdown special journey in my kitchen is giving new ideas and recipes making me creative and innovative. I made a new recipe to prepare Dosa batter. Totally new for me and a great lesson that everything is as good as anything. The free ration rice is the super heroine here.

Dosa is taking me to a journey long back. Long time back dosa batter was made in traditional wet grinder known as ‘Attukallu’. It is hemispherical in shape with a central hollow space along with an assistant called kozhavi. Kozhavi is a round cylindrical shaped granite piece with a broader end which rests inside the hollow space and the tapering end to hold for rotating.  It was part of households in Kerala and almost South India. Attukallu means a moving stone used to grind rice, lentils manually for making dosa, idli and appam batter. As kids we were not allowed to grind in Attukallu. Two persons are needed. They sit opposite facing each other. One rotates the Kozhavi and the other person  moves the grains towards the cavity to facilitate the grinding. It is not easy. It is a skill. They won’t keep quiet. They tell stories, they gossips like that it is an interesting task. Sometimes me and my sister wants to join, when we get the opportunity it will not last long, starts aching in shoulders and hurting the fingers getting into the cavity while moving the grains in.We were been throwing out of the activity with a suggestion, ‘go and study your lessons’.

I also bought one in our home in 1976. I don’t remember that I have used it. By then the  Attukallu has been gone back behind the curtain on the launching of electric grinders and nixie. Now our Attukallu got a nice spot in our garden. It’s nostalgic to travel like this.

Let me directly go to the subject. The dosa batter recipe I learned and following was two ways. The traditional way out of the rice, parboiled rice, methi seeds and urd dal. The second way is out of sona masuri rice or dosa/idli rice, methi seeds and urd dal.

My recipe here is parboiled white rice. Got ten kg rice free from State Government through ration shop. It was a little bit hard job to clean it, wash it and dried up. Then stored and start cooking different dishes. The rice is so good. I am a person of short cuts. So many years back I used to soak all the ingredients together instead of soaking separately or grinding separately. It’s good and no worries for my family or friends. 

Batter preparation 

Parboiled white rice 2 cups, 1/2 cup urd dal and 1 tbsp. methi seeds. Soaked for 7 hours. 

Cooked rice( red rice) 2 tbsp. Then grinded all the ingredients in a mixie.

 (I prefer mixie for my works, so not having a wet grinder)

Grind to a soft batter. Pour it in a large bowl and kept  it overnight. Morning it was fermented and raised up. Take the required quantity of batter and add salt to taste. 

Even though having, I am not using the griddle.

Heat the non sticky pan, pour a ladleful of batter on it and spread in a circular motion to a circle ⭕️ Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil over it. Holes appear on the top. Flip over the dosa and cook the other side. Served hot with red chutney.

Preparation of red chutney 

Grated coconut 1 cup, red chilli 4, shallots 3, ginger a small piece, cumin seeds 1/4 tsp., salt to taste.

Grind the ingredients to a semi coarse smooth mix. Round the chutney in your clean palm. 

Lockdown special free ration rice