Neela Paati's Menthya Dosa Batter

This dosa batter recipe is a hand down by Neela paati to Anandvalli maami, her only daughter. Neela paati was a gentle soul and an excellent cook as is Anandavalli maami. Now Sumathi, Anandvalli maami's 2nd daughter who has been making excellent dosas for years carries on the tradition and is recording the batter recipe for future generations.  Sumathi fondly recounts that when Neela paati made the dosa in her Tiruchirapalli house, you could smell the aroma of the menthya dosa made with gingelly oil along the whole street.

Ingredients:

• Boiled Rice (Puzungal Arisi) - 2 & 1/2 cups
• Raw Rice - 1/2 cup
• Udad Dal (Black Gram) - 3/4 cups
• Menthya (Fenugreek)- 3 tablespoons
• Salt - 2 tablespoons

Preparation Method:

Soak all the ingredients except menthya together for about 5 hours. Soak menthya separately.

Grind menthaya along with the soaked water in a wet grinder first for about 5 mins. Sieve the water and add the rest of the soaked ingredients into the wet grinder. Grind for approximately half an hour until the batter has a smooth consistency. You may add up to 1 & 1/2 cups of water depending on the consistency and thickness of the batter while it is being ground in the wet grinder.

Add the salt to the batter in the wet grinder when the batter has a smooth consistency and grind for 5 minutes to mix the salt thoroughly.

Ferment the batter overnight.

Make the dosa with gingelly oil (sesame oil)  and serve.

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