Mini Masala Dosas

Vegetarian canapés are all too often boring and bread-based, so we've been spicing things up by drawing inspiration from our favourite cuisines. Today's canapé is inspired by one of our favourite South Indian dishes. A Masala Dosa is a pancake filled with spiced potatoes and often served with chutney. In India, dosas are often made at the front of cafes for breakfast; the chefs have a knack of making them thin, crisp and huge, then deftly wrapping them around a filling. This is our quick version made canapé style with the spiced potatoes rolled up with three chutneys.

Make the Mini Masala Dosas

Makes 32 canapés

(See below for recipes for the individual components)

• 8 x cooked dosas
• 1 quantity potato filling
• 3 chutneys

Method

1. Place a dosa on a chopping board. On the edge closest to you, place one-eight of the potato filling in a neat row, about 2cm from the dges. Place a line of tomato chutney beside the potato, followed by the coconut chutney neatly along the line. On the furthest edge of the dosa, spread a tablespoon of the apple mint chutney. This will be the "glue" to seal the roll once you have rolled it up.
2. Carefully but firmly roll the clean edge nearest you over the potato, tomato and coconut filling, and gently but tightly roll all the way up. Trim both ends so that you have a neat roll then, with a very sharp knife, cut into 4 even slices. The neatest way to do this is to cut it in half first, then slice each half in half again. Whipe the blade clean on kitchen towel in between each slice to ensure clean cuts. Serve the rolls cut-side up like sushi.

Dosa Pancakes

Makes 6-8 pancakes

Ingredients

• 115g gram flour
• 75g rice flour
• 2 tsp Indian spice mix spice or curry powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 325 ml cold water
• Sunflower oil for frying

Method

1. Sieve flours, curry powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Whisk in the water to bake a runny batter the consistency of single cream.
3. Leave to stand for 1 hour or overnight if possible.
4. To cook the dosas: Whisk the batter well before you begin to ensure the mixture is smooth and well combined. Have a large plate at the ready to stack the cooked dosas on as they are done.
5. Heat 1/2 teaspoon of sunflower oil in a medium non-stick frying pan, and pour in a small ladle of the batter, swirling it around the pan to coat evenly. Cook as you would a regular pancake crepe, using a flexible spatula to run around the edges of the dosa, checking that it is getting a golden colour on its base.
6. When the base of the dosa is golden carefully flip it over and cook briefly before removing to a large plate. Cook all the dosas with the remaining batter, or keep leftover unused batter for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Tip: It is very important to use a good non-stick frying pan for frying the dosas, as the batter will stick in a regular frying pan.

Masala Dosa Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 250g potatoes, peeled and boiled whole until cooked then diced
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• ½ large onion, finely chopped
• 5 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Dhana Jeeru (coriander and cumin powder)
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp amchoor powder (mango powder)
• pinch of salt
• lemon juice to taste
• Handful fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method

1. Cook and dice the potatoes into 1cm cubes.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan.
3. Add the onion and gently fry until golden.
4. Stir in the ginger and chilli and fry for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the dhana jeeru, turmeric and amchoor and salt.
6. Gently stir in the potatoes, lemon juice and coriander.
7. Season to taste.

Tomato chutney

Handful of cherry tomatoes

• a few sprigs coriander
• half a small red chilli, chopped roughly (seeds removed if too hot for your liking)
• Squeeze of lemon
• Optional: Pinch of sugar or squeeze of agave syrup
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Blend the tomatoes, coriander and chilli till nearly smooth. The chutney is nice with a bit of texture.
2. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt, adjusting as necessary. If it's a bit sharp, you can add a pinch of sugar. The chutney is best eaten on the day it's made but will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Coconut chutney

Ingredients

• 50g desiccated coconut (soaked in hot water from a just boiled kettle)
• Handful mint
• Handful coriander
• Half a mild green chilli
• Pinch salt
• Juice of half a lime
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1tsp sunflower or coconut oil

Method

1. Drain coconut and put into blender with herbs, chilli, salt and lime juice.
2. Blend till smooth.
3. Heat 1 tsp sunflower or coconut oil and carefully toast the mustard seeds until they turn a greyish colour and start to pop in the pan. Remove from the heat and stir into the coconut mix. Taste and adjust the salt and lime if necessary.

Green apple, coriander and mint chutney

Ingredients

• 1 dessert apple, peeled and chopped
• Handful coriander
• Handful mint leaves
• Small green chilli
• Squeeze of lemon or lime
• Pinch salt

Method

1. Blend all ingredients till smooth. This chutney will be a lovely bright green just as long as you add enough lemon or lime juice.

For more festive cooking ideas, check out our vegetarian Christmas recipes.

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