Soft poha dosa | Attukula dosa

When it comes to breakfast on weekends, I have two set menus. Idli or dosa for Saturdays and Paratha or Poori for Sundays. The three cuisines i.e. Punjabi, South Indian and from U.P. are my favourite and I have to enjoy these over weekends. Especially South Indian. One good thing (apart from the taste and health benefits) about South Indian cuisine is that its travel friendly. Well, most of the items are. Unless you are making some curries like Chettinad Pakora curry or Kuzhambu

Just like this Poha dosa which is an Andhra speciality dosa. In local language it is called Attukula dosa or as some like to call it, Sponge dosa due to its soft and spongy texture.

The method of preparation for this dosa is slightly different than the regular dosas. Here the rice and poha (aval) are soaked in sour buttermilk overnight, then ground and kept for slight fermentation.

Unlike the traditional dosa, here the dosa batter is not spread over the tawa (griddle) into large concentric circles. A ladleful of batter is poured on a hot tava to let spread on its own, and cooked to a soft and spongy set dosa.

Lets go through the recipe of set sponge aval dosa i.e. Attukula dosa.

Serves: 4-5
Cuisine: Andhra, South Indian
Course: Breakfast, snack, can be used as bread
Cooking level: Easy

Nutritional info: Gluten free, vegan, low calories. High in protein and fiber. Light on stomach
Accompaniments: Chutneys like coconut chutney, tomato chutney etc.
Recipe source: Veg recipes of India

What you need?

1 ½ cups of parboiled rice
½ cup of thick poha (aval / attukulu / flattened rice flakes)
¼ cup urad dal (optional)
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)#
¼ tsp baking soda (or cooking soda)
3 cups of buttermilk **
1 tsp salt
Oil as required (I used coconut oil)

How to make?

Soak rice, poha together and urad dal and fenugreek seeds together in separate pots. Leave overnight.

Next morning, first grind the urad dal + fenugreek seeds with a few drops of water if required, till it becomes fluffy and smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Then, in the same jar, blend rice + poha mixture to a slightly coarse batter. Transfer it to the same mixing bowl with the dal batter. Add salt and soda and mix the batter well using your hands. Leave aside for 4-5 hours.

Pre-heat an iron tawa on high for half a minute. Do the water test (sprinkle few drops of water over the hot tawa such that it sizzles) and reduce heat.

Pour a large ladle full of dosa batter in the center of the tawa and gently with the back of the ladle make a very slight circular motion or just let the batter spread on its own naturally.

Pour a half a tsp of oil like drops along the edge of the dosa. Cover with a lid and on medium heat let the dosa cook for a minute till the rawness disappears and the dosa turns slightly brown.

Flip the dosa and let it cook for a less than half a minute (need not cover with lid). Flipping the dosa and cooking on the other side is optional.

Serve either fresh with an assortment of chutneys or pack for travel with dry peanut chutney.

Notes:

There could be many variations of the proportions of rice, poha and urad dal for this dosa. One of my friends doesn’t use urad dal at all when making this. Some use about ½ cup of urad dal. It really depends on how you like your dosa to set in texture and taste so you may start with the proportions I have mentioned and play around with it as you like.

Do not forget to add soda or you wouldnt get the spongy texture which is the key feature of this set dosa.

Some more South Indian breakfasts you might like:

Lemon rice