Thanks to my family and my maid, I have had to make multiple dosais in the same batter because they are kind of tired of it and we have just passed the halfway mark in this mega marathon. So I am having to think on my feet and try and club 2-3 dosais with the same batter to give them a break from dosais. So I picked this classic ghee (Nei in Tamizh) roast dosai which also is a family favorite. Yay! win win!
The ghee roast needs a reasonable amount of skill to perfect. It may not be an expert level dosai like rava dosai but I would not recommend beginners to try this either. The key to an awesome nei (ghee) roast dosai is for your to attain a crisp dosai, especially at the edges but at the same time not get too crisp that it breaks off in pieces. So it needs to be crisp at the outer part but needs to be reasonably soft towards the centre so that it can be folded like a roll without breaking and easily dunked into a bowl of hot sambhar. So the art is knowing how thin to spread it out, how much ghee to add, how to adjust the gas settings and most importantly when to start taking it off the tava. If it is your first time I would not recommend spreading the batter too thin because the chances of the dosai breaking is high. In that case you need to cook for half a minute on the other side as well. If you have spread it thin enough then cooking it on one side is sufficient to get a delightful tasty ghee dosai.
Makes 4-5 dosais
WHAT WE NEED
1 cup Dosai batter
Water
Ghee
WHAT TO DO
- The batter needs to be a little more runny than regular dosai batter in order to be able to spread it out thin enough
- If you are using idli batter then you need to dilute it further to get the right consistency
- Heat a tava and drizzle some ghee on it
- Pour a ladle full of batter and spread it out thin ensuring there are no gaps in the batter spread out
- Drizzle some ghee on top of the dosai and spread it across the dosai
- Add few drops of ghee around the edges of the dosai
- Let it cook for a minute on medium high flame
- Once the edges are browned, use a steel spatula to disengage the dosai from the tava
- If you see the inner side of the dosai is well cooked then you can take it off the gas and proceed with the next dosai
- Else, turn over the dosai and cook for around 30 seconds on meduim high flame
- Take it off the gas and repeat the process with the rest of the batter
- Serve warm with sambhar and / or your favorite chutney
- Enjoy!
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 92
Now either I’ll have to ask my husband to take me for dinner to Sagar Ratna, the chances of this being remote as he is very busy due to returns and all that CA stuff or make dosa myself. This ghee dosa is making me drool.
Our family fav dosa. I have heard that adding a little semolina to the batter will give you a nice crispy roast. As you said making dosa is an art form. My daughter loves it when I make it in shape of a cone, just like in hotels.
My hubby go crazy if i make ghee dosas at home. Making crispy dosa is not an easy stuff as you said. Love the crispy nei dosas anytime.. Drooling already.
My little one would love the nei dosai. The same thing is happening with parathas at our lace 🙂
husband loves ghee on idli and dosa. this nei dosa surely looks like a treat to taste buds. Loving it.
Don’t worry Sowmya, faced same issue at my end.. hubby was getting fed up of having rotis and parathas every day. He even remarked that I may forget how to make rice ! Whether I can get the crispness perfect or not, I simply love ghee dosa 🙂
There was a time I did not touch ghee . Down South my son in law is a ghee fan and makes sure I have these Ghee Dosa when I visit them . They have become my favourite and now all I can do is drool !
Fantastic pick !
Wow ghee fosa looks so crispy and Yum. Just want to have this now with some spicy chutney
This one is a fantastic choice! My daughter loves ghee roast and only has it when we eat out. She makes me taste and though I like the one I make at home, the hotel one is too ghee for my taste..guess kids will like it..lol on your family front, glad you managed with the basic batter to make these many versions..
Such a classic dosai recipe and one of my favorite at the hotel. Love the gama gama nei flavor and I can eat a stack of these….
My kids will eat only this dosa and not the regular ones! And I have to tell you, even after a heavy dinner,this recipe is making me want to take a bite!