Rava Dosa Semolina Crepes with Chile Recipe

The temperature began dropping last week and my
response was to make an warming Indian meal. I hankered for Indian crepes but
didn’t want to ferment and grind batter. Something simple was in order and rava
dosas came to mind. The southern Indian crepe is made with readily available
ingredients and the batter does not require fermentation. Mix it up and an hour
later, it’s ready.

I had them with a light curry, chutney and raita.
The next day we had the crepes for lunch with a dollop of yoghurt that I mixed
up into a quick raita, and a salad. I based the recipe below from one in Julie
Sahni’s magnificent Savoring India cookbook.

She used bell pepper and lots of
serranos and dried chile flakes. I dialed up the fruity fresh chile heat by
using pasilla and Fresnos and lowered the others. Regardless of the chile combination,
the result was something to rave about. We didn’t mind eating rava dosas two days
in a row.

I’d never made rava dosa before and there were
extra lacy, crisp versions online. I stuck to Sahni’s recipe because she said
it was an ancient one. It's nice to check out old school renditions of foods to understand their roots. If you don’t know Julie Sahni, she is one of the
foremost Indian food authorities, author of Classic Indian Cooking and Classic
Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. A scholarly woman who rocks in the
kitchen.

Rava dosa tips and tweaks:

• Where to buy semolina and rice flour?
  At an Indian market or the bulk section of a health food store or a place
  like Whole Foods. It’s much cheaper than getting semolina for making Italian
  pasta.
• When prepping a day in advance,
  mix the batter and cooking the vegetables. Refrigerate them separately.
  Return them to room temperature and combine before you make the crepes.
• For appetizer size portions, make these as small as silver dollar pancakes. Or cut the ones below into wedges.
• Accompaniments: You can serve this
  with a sambhar. See the note section of the Dal
  Dhokli recipe on Asian Dumpling Tips for guidance. Or, enjoy the
  crepes with a coconut
  cilantro chutney.

RECIPE

Semolina
Crepes with Chile

Rava Dosa

Yield: 8 crepes, to serve 4

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (115 g) fine-grind semolina
• 2 ounces (60 g) rice flour, any brand, Asian or
  not
• 1 ½ ounces (45 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (480 ml) water
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, plus more as needed
• 1 large pasilla chile or 2 large jalapeno chiles,
  seeded and finely diced
• 2 Fresno or other moderately-hot red chile, seeded
  and finely diced
• 1 extra-large shallot, chopped (½ cup / 2.5 oz /
  75 g)
• 1 or 2 serrano chiles, unseeded, thinly sliced
• About 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, pounded with mortar
  and pestle
• ¼ to ¾ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• About ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup Greek yoghurt, full fat or 2% preferred

Instructions

1. For the batter, put the semolina, rice flour and
   regular flour in a bowl. Make a well in the center and whisk in the water until
   smooth. Cover and set aside to thicken at room temperature, 1 hour. Or
   refrigerate overnight, returning the batter to room temp before using.
2. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil over
   medium-high heat. Add all three types of chiles, shallot, dried red chile
   flakes and cumin. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until slightly
   softened and halfway cooked. Off heat, stir in 1 tablespoon of the cilantro.
   Let cool briefly then dump into the batter. Taste and season with the salt. You
   should have about 2 ⅔ cups (630 ml) of batter, which should be pourable and
   thick like buttermilk.
3. For a quick yoghurt raita, mix the yoghurt with 1
   to 2 tablespoons water to soften and turn creamy. Season with salt and if you
   like, pound a little more cumin and add to the to the yoghurt. Set aside.  
4. To make the crepes, reheat the nonstick skillet or
   a griddle over medium-high heat. Brush with a little oil. For each crepe, ladle
   about ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the batter onto the pan. Swirl the skillet or use the
   bottom of the ladle to spread the batter to about the thickness of a bean
   sprout. It does not need to be a perfect circle. Drizzle a teaspoon or so of
   oil around the edge, let cook until browned, nearly 2 minutes. Use a spatula to
   turn over and cook the other side for 30 to 45 seconds longer. Repeat to make
   more from the remaining batter. As you work, you can add extra water to thin
   out the batter and make the dosas a little more crisp or thinner. Adjust the
   heat accordingly. 
5. These crepes soften as they cool. If you want to return a bit of their chewy-crispness, throw them back into the skilet or onto the griddle for a short spell. Serve the crepes with a plop of yoghurt and sprinkle of cilantro.

If you’re an
old hand at making or eating rava dosas, do you have tips to add?

Related posts:

• Wheat
  Dumplings with Spiced Lentils (Dal Dhokli)
• Indian
  Rice Dumplings (Kuzhi Paniyaram)
• Modern
  Indian Chile Pea Puffs
• Coconut
  and Cilantro Green Chutney (Lili Chatney)
• Masala
  Stuffed Eggplant
• Northern
  Indian Egg Curry (Anda Masala)
• Sailu’s
  Kitchen post on Rava Dosa has a great recipe and tips