Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them both a pleasure as well as a necessity.

Voltaire

Ten days after my first infusion of chemotherapy, I completely lost my sense of taste. Sweet, salty, acidic, bitter.. all gone. A pinch of salt or sugar placed directly on my tongue just felt like sand in my mouth. And for nearly 7 months, eating became a frustrating, tiresome chore. Everything was reduced to texture and temperature. Cool liquids were the easiest to consume and my go-to meal was a banana smoothie with yogurt and spinach and protein powder. Bread and meat were the worst. I’ve never had issues with texture but without taste, eating bread or crackers was like eating cardboard and I honestly don’t have the words to describe how awful meat was… almost a year has passed and I’m still having a hard time eating it. Despite my best efforts, I lost 40 pounds.

A dear coworker started bringing me delicious South Indian food during all of this. She brought idlis and sambar and homemade yogurt, paneer, and chutneys. The very first thing I could taste again was her fiery red chilli chutney. The next was the strange, resinous, numbing heat of Szechuan pepper. I’ve heard stories about people who lost their sense of taste during a Covid infection who had a similar experience- really spicy flavors were the first to return. Being able to taste anything made eating so much easier.

Eating my friend’s delicious food sent me on a journey of discovery. I tried.. and failed.. at making idlis. But in the process, I learned that the batter for idlis is the same as that for dosas and since I had experience making crepes, they were much more accessible for me. I love anything that turns humble ingredients into something special and dosas are pretty much magic in this regard. Rice and lentils soaked in water and then blended into a batter that ferments overnight giving these mild, crispy treats the slightest sour notes. The batter is free of gluten, dairy, sugar, and eggs which makes these a great choice for anyone with these food allergies. You can add some warm spices like cinnamon or cardamom to the batter and serve them as you would crepes or pancakes with honey or maple syrup. Or you can take them in a savory direction and stuff them with any number of vegetable fillings. Since the classic filling is potato masala, it just adds to the humble ingredients theme.

A note on ingredients- this recipe calls for specific kinds of rice and dal: idli rice and split urad dal (matpe beans). I also like to use a bit of fenugreek, which are also a type of legume, in the batter. I live within walking distance of two great Indian grocery stores that I frequent so these aren’t difficult for me to find. I’ve never tried the recipe with more mainstream types of rice or lentils so I’m not sure what would work here. These ingredients can be found online at Kalustyan’s or Amazon.

The potatoes I used were locally grown yellow fleshed potato that have been in cold storage since being harvested last year. With time, the natural amylase in potatoes breaks down some of the starches into simple sugars so they taste much sweeter than when they are freshly harvested. This time of year, I like to play up that sweetness by adding a bit of ginger, garam masala, and cashews to this filling. I used red chilis and ginger from my frozen stash of last year’s harvest and a handful of cilantro that is going gangbusters in my garden right now.

potato-stuffed masala dosas

Recipe by Keri, adapted from Mangoes and Curry LeavesCourse: Uncategorized

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

• Potato Stuffing

• 2 lbs yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 2 tbsp ghee or a neutral oil

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup cilantro, stems separated from leaves and finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped (or grated from frozen with a microplane)

• 1 serrano chili, finely chopped (or grated from frozen with a microplane)

• 1/4 cup cashews, chopped

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• 1/2 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional or adjust to your preference of heat)

• Dosas

• 1 cup idli rice

• 1/2 cup split urad dal (white matpe beans)

• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

• 2 cups water, plus more for soaking

Directions

• Potato Stuffing
• Place the peeled and chopped potatoes in a medium pot with cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and add back to dry pot off the heat.
• Meanwhile, prepare and assemble all other ingredients. In a wok or large non-stick skillet, heat the ghee or oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cilantro stems and cook until the onions are golden, about 7 minutes. Turn the heat down and add the ginger, garlic, chili, cashews, turmeric, garam masala, salt and cayenne. Stirring continuously, cook for 1 minute and be sure not to burn the garlic.
• Add the potatoes to the onion mixture and stir to combine, breaking up the potatoes slightly as you do so. Sprinkle with the cilantro leaves and serve.
• Dosas
• Combine rice, lentils, and fenugreek in a medium bowl and cover with water by 2 inches. Allow to soak for 8-10 hrs.
• Drain the mixture with a fine-mesh sieve. Place mixture into a high-powered blender with 2 cups of water. Blend for 1 minute.
• Pour mixture into a bowl large enough for the mixture to double in volume. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and allow to ferment for 12 hours or more.
• Heat a crepe maker or large non-stick skillet over medium heat and coat very lightly with ghee or a neutral oil, wiping away excess with a paper towel.
• Using a ladle, pour 1/2-1 cup dosa batter, depending on the size of your cookware, onto the middle of your cooking surface. Using the back of the ladle, gently push the batter outwards with ever-larger concentric circles. If the batter isn’t spreading well, thin it with a little water. Cook until the surface is covered with bubbles and you can see the thin areas beginning to take on color. Using a large spatula, loosen the edges of the crepe and then flip over with one, smooth, confident motion. Cook for another minute or two on the other side and move to a plate. The cooked dosa will quickly get crispier so form it into the shape that you’d like or fill it with a filling straightaway.
• Serve with the potato filling above or another filling of your choice or dal or sambar, and an assortment of chutneys.