Masala filling for dosa

A classic Indian dish where dosa is filled with a spicy potato curry and served with an array of delectable accompaniments.

Credit: Murdoch Books / Ben Dearnley

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Try with green chilli and coconut chutney, hot sambar, hot chilli paste, Indian lime pickle or filmjölk raita.

Ingredients

• 3 medium floury potatoes, (approximately 600 g/1 lb 5 oz), scrubbed
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• small handful fresh or dried curry leaves
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) vegetable or chicken stock
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1–3 green chillies, deseeded and chopped (optional, to taste)
• juice of 1 lime or lemon
• sea salt, to taste
• 3 coriander (cilantro) sprigs, stems and leaves finely chopped
• 6 freshly cooked hot dosas (get Holly's recipe here)
• chilli paste (optional)

To serve         

• lime wedges, hot chilli paste, chutney, pickles or raita

Instructions

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes, until tender. Drain and allow to cool enough to handle. Using a small knife to loosen the skin, peel the potatoes and break them up so they are semi-mashed leaving good-sized chunks. Set aside.

Heat the ghee in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and as they start to pop add the curry leaves, letting them sizzle for just a moment. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring all the time, until translucent. Pour in the stock and add the turmeric, ginger and chillies, if using. Add the lime or lemon juice, put the lid on the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the lid and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes or until the liquid has completely evaporated.

Add the potatoes and mix well, but be gentle to avoid breaking them up too much. Season to taste with sea salt and add the chopped coriander stems and leaves. 

To fill each dosa, if you like extra heat spread a little chilli paste over the dosa and then add a few spoonfuls of the masala potatoes to one side of the round. Fold the dosa in half, and then fold again to create a triangular-filled pocket. Serve with your choices of the suggested accompaniments and a few lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Recipe from Ferment by Holly Davis (Murdoch Books, hb, $45.00). Photography by Ben Dearnley. Read more from Holly about the joy of fermenting here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Try with green chilli and coconut chutney, hot sambar, hot chilli paste, Indian lime pickle or filmjölk raita.