Waking up craving hot and spicy food? Don’t worry! You are in good company together with 1 billion Indians 😉 Masala Dosa is one of the most common dishes in south India and in India in general and people like to eat it for breakfast or as a street food. Masala Dosa is practically a Dosa (thin and crispy crepe made of rice and lentiles – recipe here) filled with Aloo Masala, which is spicy and hot mashed potatoes.

As expected of such a famous and tasty dish it has lots of versions for the Masala itself, but also for the various serving options and side dishes. One of the more famous variations is called Mysore Masala Dosa in which you spread hot red chilli chutney on the dosa prior to filling it with Aloo Masala.

Although it is common to serve Aloo Masala in (or beside) a dosa, you can just serve it as a spicy and interesting side dish in practically any meal, or eat with a spoon from the fridge (no judging).

Ingredients (for 10-12 small dosas)

• 3-4 medium potatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 cm ginger
• 1/2 to 1 green chilli
• handful of cliantro leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 10 fresh or dried curry leaves
• pinch of asafoetida

Directions

Cook or steam the potatoes with skins on until they are completely soft. Cool down, take the skins off and mash.

Heat 1 tbs oil in a medium pot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves and let it sizzle for a minute or two. Add grated or finely chopped ginger and let it cook for a minute. Add chopped onion, chopped green chilli and grated carrot and continue cooking until the vegetable start to become soft. Add turmeric and salt (according to taste, I add 1/2 tsp) and some water. Wait for it to boil and then add the mashed potatoes. Mix well, add some more water in case the Masala is too thick and cook for few more minutes. Add chopped cilantro leaves. Masala is done!

For the dosa preparation follow this recipe. Once the dosa starts to brown at the edges and thin places spread Aloo Masala over half the dosa, fold and serve with chutney and sambhar. You can alternatively serve the Masala beside the dosa and that way keep the dosa crispy. It’s also pretty common to serve the dosa with a piece of butter that melts over the hot dosa.

Comments and suggestions

• Spices. The critical spices in this recipe are turmeric, mustard seeds and curry leaves. The mustard seeds make the it crunchy and pops in the mouth. If you really can’t find them anywhere you can skip the curry leaves. The optional spices are the cumin seeds, Asafoetida and Urad dal (which also adds to the crunchness). The Asafoetida can be replaces with 2 crushed garlic cloves which you should add together with the ginger.
• How to store chili and ginger. Few months ago 1.5 kg of fresh green chilies accidentally found themselves in my kitchen (don’t ask questions). Though my love for spicy Indian food is undeniable I do have my limits and with no other choice I’ve put the whole bag in the freezer. I still wonder why I didn’t think of it before but apparently both chili and ginger can be kept in sealed box in the freezer. When I wish to use green chili I just take it out and chop it while it’s still frozen, and for the ginger I grate the amount I need using an extra fine grater and return what’s left to the freezer.

In short

Cook the potatoes, remove the skins and mash. Heat oil in a medium pot and fry mustard seed, urad dal, cumin seed, asafoetida and curry leaves for two minutes. Add grated ginger and cook for a minute. Add chopped onion, chopped green chili and grated carrot and cook until the veggies become soft. Add turmeric, salt and a little water, boil and then add the potatoes mash. Mix well, add water if needed, cook for few more minutes and finish with chopped cilantro leaves. Prepare Dosa, fill with Aloo Masala and serve with chutney and sambhar.