Daring Cooks Challenge-Indian Dosas

Making the Pancakes- I made mini ones

Cooked pancakes

Mashing the chickpeas

Cooking chickpea filling

Making coconut curry sauce

All assembled and ready to eat!




Do you know what day today is? It’s a Daring Cooks Challenge day! This month, Debyi from the Healthy Vegan Kitchen is our host, and she chose a vegan Indian dish called Dosas. I have to admit, I was very excited about this challenge because I love healthy vegetarian dishes and I love Indian food, but have never attempted to cook it myself. Have I ever mentioned that I was vegetarian for six years and vegan for one? Well I was, but all that ended on one faithful night when I was craving Burger King….yes, Burger King, and a Whopper to be exact. Yes, I am ashamed but it was so good. I can promise you, I haven’t had another one since, but I am no longer vegetarian. The point of that little tidbit, however, is that I love vegetarian food and it’s been a huge part of my life.
Now, the dish Debyi chose comes in 3 parts: the pancakes (wraps), the chickpea filling, and the coconut curry sauce. Let me tell you this dish was really good and I would definitely make it again. The only real change I made to the recipe was cutting the Curry powder by about half. My husband hates a pronounced Curry taste and is convinced it makes him sick, so I had to accommodate him. I will also add this, I think this recipe assumes you have all non-stick pots and pans because the idea of cooking vegetables in no oil on my stainless steel pots and pans makes my heart palpitate. As for portion sizes, I think the curry coconut sauce can be cut in half. I had so much left over. I would also probably make a couple more pancakes. Over all though, a really good recipe! Thanks Debyi!

Indian Dosas
Adapted from refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal
Serves 4

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated
Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced
Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.
Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste
1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced
1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
Enjoy!