Cauliflower-Peas Masala Roast - Dosa Variety!

It was just one of those nights when my mind and body and heart and soul - all got together and demanded to be fed only one thing - Dosa. But, the first one on the list - my mind - told me that I needed to get in a little more veggies to my meal. And the second on the list - my body - was lazy to make a chutney and a sambar with veggies or side dish to go along with the dosa. And the third one and the fourth one on the list just wanted hot and tasty food. Poor me - how can I please all of these?

And right at that minute - this idea from my dad came to the rescue. I think he was cooking this up when my mom was visiting us here. Actually I think he had left over cauliflower-peas masala and just mashed it up and added it to his dosa. Yeah..I still can't believe he was cooking food for himself. Conceptually my dad's cooking  ideas are great, but practically my mom says that whenever he cooks (which you can probably count using your fingertips) there's got to be 2 people and 2 hrs to clean up later! But, he does loves good tasty food - I inherited if genetically, you could say.

And so to make a regular dosa night at home a little bit more interesting, I decided to do this. I loved the taste of these dosas and the added benefit is that you really don't need a side dish to go along with this. But, the fact I still made chutney can be ignored. Its my 'Food OCD' I guess, I have to have chutney for dosas. No chutney. No fun!

You'll need onions, tomatoes, cauliflowers, peas, carrots (optional), some fresh chopped ginger and green chillies. For spices, I just used a spoon of sambar powder and 1 spoon of Idli molaga podi (Gun Powder) - loved that flavor on the cauliflower masala!

In a wide pan, add about 1 tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds. Then, add in the chopped ginger and green chillies. Fry till they brown.

Then, add the onions and saute till they turn translucent.

And then add the chopped tomatoes to the onions and saute for a couple of mins.

Now add roughly but finely cut cauliflower pieces in here. About 1-1 1/2  cups of cut cauliflower.

Then add about 3/4 cup of green peas. If you are using frozen peas like me, just microwave the peas for about 3-4 mins in some water, then drain the water out and then add the peas in here. This heating up removes the raw smell of peas and also partially cooks it well.

Now, I had some grated carrots and so added that too. They do add a lot of taste and flavor - but its optional to add this.

This is where the story gets spicier - I mean, like really. Add salt to taste and also add your favorite spices. I added 1 heaped tsp of my super flavorful sambar powder and also 1 tsp of idli Molaga podi! And nothing else. I think this just provides a wholesome flavor any dish requires!

And add 1 tsp of ghee. This just opens up the whole palette of flavors and mixes it up so much that you can literally smell it all! Trust me. The smell will hit your nose - just take it in with a smile. And like Gandhi says - 'show your other nostril too!'

Now, cover the pan up and let it cook for a little while while the flavors get to know each other well.

After a few mins, go back in there and show who you are and what your power is. Sorry no more Gandhigiri.

Pick a masher and mash it up well. Break up the peas and blend it well with the rest of the stuff in there.

Can you see its all mashed up?

Make a thin dosa on the tawa and while the bottom is getting done and beginning to brown up -

add a thin layer of the masala on top of the dosa and spread it around all over.

Fold em up - and serve it out hot from the tawa!

One other look - you could just serve it open faced like this! Looks good to me.

As you can see, this does not have a big lump of masala in the center like masala dosa. There's the taste of masala in every bite of the dosa and it still is a pretty light dosa.

Enjoy. Peace Out!