JUNK RUNTAH

Away

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Away from the grind Didir Dosa

I bought some Urad dal flour back in January. I bought it because I had read a recipe then, which required it. After some days, when I again saw the recipe to make that dish, I realised that I didnt really fancy making it. (Does this happen to you too?) As a result, the Urad dal flour stayed in the pack, unopened, at the back of the cabinet...until I saw it again, when I emptied the cabinet to clean it thoroughly. This time I was determined to use it, and started looking for recipes on the net.

This thing called the internet is perhaps one of the best things to have happened to mankind in the recent years. (Now that was a pearl of wisdom, Maa Vaishali Devi!) Although I did not find too many recipes, which ask for Urad dal flour (perhaps there arent too many anyway?), the one that I found is reeeaaaally good. It is for this Dosa, Didir Dosa. I found the same recipe at a few sites. The one site, which I like the most, is this. The only thing that none of the sites told me is *why* the Dosa is called so. I am sure that one of you will know. :)

This Dosa has two very good qualities.
1) It requires no grinding at all. Which means that bachelors or people on the move or people who are just starting a household and do not have all the kitchen gadgets yet can also make great Dosas.
2) Moreover, the no-grind batter gives you perfect Dosas. I think the pictures are proof enough. :)

The recipe is very uncomplicated too. Let me tell you how.

Recipe for Didir Dosa

I do not really remember how many Dosas I made, but it made four adults so full that they almost skipped lunch. :)

Ingredients:

3 cups rice flour
1 cup Urad flour
salt to taste
water for the batter

oil for the griddle/Tava when making Dosas

Rice flour & Urad flour - Can you tell which is which? :)

Method:

1. Mix both flours and salt. Add enough water to make a soft, lump-free paste. Please make sure that it isnt too runny.

Batter to be fermented yet

2. Leave the batter to ferment for at least 8 hours or overnight. Once the batter rises, check the taste again for salt.

Risen batter

3. For making Dosas, heat a Tava. Pour a ladleful of the batter in the centre and spread it with the back of the ladle moving in concentric circles. Spread a few drops of oil at the edges of the Dosa. For step-by-step fotos, see here. Once the edges of the Dosa start *lifting themselves* from the Tava/griddle, slide a spatula beneath it, fold it in half and take it out.

If you want to serve it like the Topi Dosa that they serve in Udupi restaurants in India, make one cut in the Dosa from the centre through to the edge. Fold it with both hands to make it look like a party hat. Like this.

Topi Dosa

Serve it with this chutney or any other chutney of your choice. I served it with this.

Id like to take this hat along to Nanditas. For her Weekend Breakfast Party...er...Blogging. :)

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Away With Rum Theodore Bikel

Guest poem sent in by Vivian

 We're coming we're coming. Our brave little band
 On the right side of temperance we now take our stand.
 We don't use tobacco because we do think
 That the people who do so are likely to drink.

 [Chorus]
 Away, away, with rum, by gum,
 With rum, by gum, with rum, by gum,
 Away, away, with rum, by gum,
 The song of the Salvation Army.

 We never eat cookies because they have yeast
 And one little bite makes a man like a beast.
 Oh, can you imagine a sadder disgrace,
 Than a man in the gutter with crumbs in his face?

 [Chorus]

 We never eat fruitcake because it has rum,
 And one little slice puts a man on the bum.
 Oh, can you imagine a sorrier sight,
 Than a man eating fruitcake until he gets tight?

 [Chorus]

Franklin P. Adams' "Prohibition" inevitably brought this to mind. Here, the
song tweaks the temperance movement (there are versions with "Temperance
Union" rather than "Salvation Army") for going to intemperate extremes, but
the underlying message is that anything that seems like a pretty good idea
in the first place (in the specific case, immoderate consumption of alcohol
can lead to disastrous results) when taken to its logical extremes can be
absurd and even violent.

When I first learned this song, I understood the words to the chorus as
"Away, away with rum, buy gum" (rather than "by gum"), possible because we
sang the final chorus as:

 Away, away with gum, buy rum
 With gum, buy rum, with gum, buy rum,
 Away, away with gum, buy rum,
 The salvation song of the army."

Which brings me to the next point: Like many folk songs, this is a kind of
oral poetry that gives license to its "users" to invent verses and
variations of their own. A collection of these - some of them quite funny -
can be seen at http://www.whitetreeaz.com/awayrum.htm.

Vivian

[Links]

The guitar chords are here:
http://www.thetabworld.com/Bikel_Theo__Away_With_Rum_guitar_chord_printable.html

Biography:
 Austrian-born character actor, folk singer and musician (1924-)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Bikel

Bikel's website:
 http://www.bikel.com/

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