Dosa with Chicken Masala

I am part of this club called Cook Eat Share! It is a cultural group of International students/faculty/staff/community members who have a passion for cooking, eating and sharing culture through food. We meet on Friday evenings at the University of Mississippi Counseling Center. Sometimes members host a meeting at their place and cook something traditional from their culture to share with the group.

So it was my turn and I was wondering what should I cook as the team had already tasted butter chicken, Jeera basmasti rice, kebabs etc. I wanted to make something traditional which they had never tasted before. After some brainstorming with the hubby we thought of dosa with chicken Masala.

I was a bit nervous serving dosa as I had to make sure all of the dosa's were perfect and everyone liked them as they do have a different flavor. The final result was great and I was amazed how all my friends appreciated it and enjoyed seconds. And the best part was one of my friend's 8 month old enjoyed the dosa as well(without the chicken ofcourse!).

So here goes my recipe for Dosa with Chicken Masala:

For the Dosa:

2 cups raw rice (I use Basmati as I have a huge bag and I sometimes use 1 cup brown basmati rice and 1 cup regular basmati)
1 cup urad dal/split black lentils
2 tbspn poha/beaten rice
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds/methi
Salt to taste
Oil

Soak rice, urad dal and the fenugreek seeds in water for atleast 6 hours. Many people soak these separately but I do it together. Soak the poha for atleast 20-30 mins in water.
Now grind the rice, urad dal, methi and poha to a fine paste using very little water.
Now keep this batter in a container covered with a lose lid or saran wrap in a warm place overnight to ferment. For me it's the oven but depending on the weather you can keep it even on the counter top if the house is warm.
The next day the batter will have increased in volume. Now add salt according to taste before making the dosas.
To make the dosa heat a non-stick pan on high for 3-5 mins when hot lower heat to medium and sprinkle few drops of water. The water should sizzle and evaporate quickly. Now pour the batter with a ladle and spread the batter around in circular motion as thin or thick you want your dosa to be. Add few drops of oil on the edges of the dosa. Wait for few mins around 3-5 and slowly flip dosa on the other side and cook. No need to add oil now. You can add oil to the pan before starting the dosa instead of the water trick (this was taught to me by the dosa king -my husband ;))

For the Chicken Masala:

1 lb Chicken thighs washed and cut into small pieces
5 tbspn Tomato paste (I use the canned one)
1 onion chopped
1/4 -1/2 cup cashews soaked in hot water and ground to a thick paste
1 tbspn ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli pwd,
1/4 tsp garam masala,
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder/haldi,
1/2 tsp cummin & coriander pwd
1/4 tsp Kasuri methi crushed
Salt according to taste
oil

Marinate the chicken with 3 tbspn tomato paste, ginger-garlic paste and salt.
Heat oil in a wok/kadai and fry the onions till golden brown now add the marinated chicken keep on high flame for 5-7mins making sure you stir every 2 mins. Let the chicken get a bit roasted but not burned. Now add the remaining tomato paste and red chilli, turmeric, coriander-cummin pwd and garam masala. Mix well & add the cashew paste, add little water and kasuri methi mix well and cook till the chicken is tender. Adjust salt.
I kept the sauce/gravy thick as I was serving it inside the dosa (refer to pic) but you can adjust the consistency of your gravy as you desire.

Note:
The poha is added to the dosa to make it soft & methi for its health benefits I guess.

I didnt make the chicken masala very spicy as it was being served to my friends who are not used to eating spicy food. You can increase the amount of spices according to your taste.