Konkani Lentil Dosas (Phanna Doddak)

My granny used to make these delish, crispy dosas for us. Crispy dosas that were made in a wok as opposed to all other dosas made on a frying pan. And these dosas were made upon a flavourful seasoning. So, the dosas had a nice flavour of mustard seeds and curry leaves seasoning. These lentil dosas also had a nice tinge of ginger and spice from green chillies that were added to the dosa batter. No matter how many times I make this dosa for myself, no matter how many times my mom's made this for me, they just can't beat the delish dosas my granny always made for me. Nostalgia!

These lentil dosas are made by grinding split black lentils. The lentil batter is then mixed with rice semolina, pounded ginger and green chillies to make crispy dosas. And before frying these dosas, in a wok, mustard seeds and curry leaves are seasoned to impart an amazing taste to these dosas. The dosa batter is then spread on the seasoning in the wok. Since these dosas are made in a wok you get dosas that are thick in the middle with crispy sides.

My twist to this, I add 1/2 a teaspoon of split black lentils and red chillies to the seasoning for an added taste along with mustard seeds and curry leaves. I also add just enough batter into the wok to make thin dosas that get super crispy all around. As opposed to my granny’s and mom’s thick dosas.

So, every time you season in the wok and then fry each dosa.

No fermentation's required to make these dosas. You can make dosas straight away, but with 3-5 hours of fermentation, you get nice, soft dosas. They turn out the best with 3-5 hours of fermentation. We don't want a well fermented (7-8 hours) batter to make these dosas.

Phanna doddak also called as kayli phanna doddak in Konkani is a very old Konkani breakfast. Kayli in Konkani means wok, phann means seasoning, doddak refers to thick dosas in Konkani. Hence the name kayli phanna doddak in Konkani.

The batter for this dosa is same as the batter used to make idli. And any leftover idli batter was made into these dosas. So, now you know what to do with any excess idli batter you have. There's another crispy, tasty dosa you can make using idli batter, it's called as also called as doddak in Konkani.

Here’s how to make these dosas:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup split black lentils (urad dal)
1.5 cups of rice semolina (small idli rava, rice rava)
Salt to taste
1 inch piece of ginger (optional)
2 green chillies (optional)
2 leaflets of curry leaves (optional)

For seasoning:

3/4 cup of oil
2 tablespoons of mustard seeds
2 dried red chillies
6-7 leaflets of curry leaves

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 1 hour, No fermentation required

Suggested wok/skillet for frying:

My granny and my mom used medium to big woks like this with round bottoms. Though that wok is very handy in kitchen I dont prefer them to make these dosas, as I like my dosas small and super cripsy.

Instead I prefer tiny to medium sized non stick pans with rounded, small bottoms or small sized skillets.

Preparation Method:

Soak urad dal for a minimum of 30 minutes. Wash them well and drain all the water.
Grind them using as much water as required into a smooth paste. I suggest using a wet grinder over a blender, for a super smooth batter. Just in case you don’t have one, blender would do.
Transfer the ground batter into a vessel. Add in rice semolina, salt and mix well.
Add water if required. We want a semi thick batter and not a batter that’s to thick or too watery.
Allow the batter to stand for 15 minutes so that the rice rava soaks up.
No fermentation's required to make these dosas. You can make dosas straight away, but with 3-5 hours of fermentation, you get nice, soft dosas. They turn out the best with 3-5 hours of fermentation. We don't want a well fermented (7-8 hours) batter to make these dosas.
Optional step for extra taste: While the rice semolina is getting soaked in the batter, peel, finely chop ginger and green chillies. Pound them well using salt in a mortar and pestle. Add them to the batter and mix well. They impart spice and a nice taste to the batter.
Optional step for extra taste: Add a few chopped curry leaves to the batter for added taste.
Even without ginger, green chillies and curry leaves in the batter these dosas do taste great.
After 15 minutes of soaking, heat a wok, add in oil.
Add in 1/4 teaspoon of mustard seeds. When they start popping, add in 1/4 teaspoon urad dal and let them sizzle. Once they start to brown add in 1/2 dried red chilli broken into pieces, 1 leaflet of curry leaves and let them splutter.
Then add a ladle full of batter over the seasoning and spread it around a little in the wok.
The more batter you add, thicker the dosas you make. The lesser the batter you add, thinner the dosas you make and more crispier they get.
Cook the batter closed on a medium-high flame until the bottom turns golden brown and the sides get super crispy.
Then flip the dosas and add some oil through the sides for it to crisp up on the other side.
Once it’s golden brown on the other side too, remove these dosas off the wok and serve them hot!
These dosas taste great as-is and don’t need an accompaniment. Just in case you need one, serve it with pickles or with sides of your choice.

Side Note:

You can also make these dosas using wheat semolina (sooji rava) but I prefer them made with rice semolina (idli rava, rice rava) as they turn to be more crispy.

Other Konkani cuisine dosas you can make & few other doddak's (thick dosas in Konkani) you might like:

Pancakes with cucumber (Thoushe Doddak/Thoushe bakri/Rotti)

Sweet Semolina Pancakes With Bananas (Kelle Rulava Doddak)

Konkani Lentil Dosa 2 (Doddak)

Tags: Konkani breakfast, Konkani cuisine, Konkani food, Konkani recipe, doddak, dhodak, dhoddak, phanna doddak, kayli doddak, GSB Konkani recipe, vegan, vegetarian recipe, South Canara Konkani recipe, Konkani cooking, GSB Konkani cuisine, kids breakfast, udha doddak