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Following the success of his first restaurant in Vauxhall, chef and founder Ajay Chaurasia has now launched Bombay Delight in Wimbledon. Bringing hidden gems of Indian cuisine to southwest London, the new menu features a number of lesser-known, regional Indian dishes alongside all-time favourites, with a focus on using fresh ingredients and fragrant spices to bring traditional recipes to life. Chaurasia tells SC: “With Bombay Delight and my other concepts, the goal is to introduce people to authentic Indian food. India has a population of 1.3 billion with an extremely varied cuisine which differs significantly region to region and state to state. I believe Indian food in the UK is still limited in terms of how deeply the different regional varieties are explored.”

He continues: “I realised that Wimbledon doesn’t offer much in terms of Indian cuisine at all. With the new menu, I’ve tried to incorporate both North and South Indian techniques within dishes which are largely popular in Bombay. I really wanted to showcase all that Indian cuisine has to offer rather than limiting myself to one style of cooking or one specific region. Masala Dosa is one of India’s most popular street foods. It’s a variation of the popular south Indian Dosa and finds its origins in the Udupi cuisine of Karnataka in southwest India. There are a range of different varieties of Dosa, all of which are prepared using unique methods. But really the best thing about the Dosa is how versatile it is – you can eat it for your breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anytime as the perfect snack!”


Masala Dosa Recipe

Masala Dosa. Courtesy Bombay Delight

INGREDIENTS:

For the batter:

3 cup broken rice
1⁄2 tsp fenugreek seeds water (for soaking)
2 cup urad dal
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp toor dal

For the potato filling:

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard
5-6 few curry leaves 1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
1 dried red chilli
pinch of asafoetida
2 green chillies (finely chopped) 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)
1 onion (sliced)
1⁄4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
3 potatoes (boiled & mashed)
2 tbsp coriander (finely chopped) 2 tbsp lemon juice


METHOD:

Batter preparation:

Firstly, in a large bowl take 3 cups of broken rice and 1⁄2 tsp fenugreek seed.
Rinse well and soak in enough water for 4 hours.
In another bowl take 2 cups urad dal, 1 tbsp toor dal and 1 tbsp chana dal.
Rinse well and soak in enough water for 2 hours.
After soaking dal for 2 hours, drain off the water and grind it.
Add water as required and blend to smooth paste.
Scrape sides – now the smooth and fluffy batter is ready.
Transfer the batter to a large vessel and keep aside.
Add water slowly and scrape the sides. Blend to a coarse paste.
Transfer the rice batter to the same bowl as the urad dal batter.
Mix well making sure everything is well combined.
Ferment in a warm place for at least 8 hours or until the batter doubles in volume.
Once the batter is well fermented, mix gently, without disturbing the air pockets.
Transfer 4 cups of fermented batter to a small bowl and add 1 tsp salt.
Mix well until the salt is well combined. The Masala Dosa batter is now ready. Keep aside.

Potato filling preparation:

Firstly, in a pan heat 2 tbsp oil and splutter 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 dried red chilli, few curry leaves, and pinch of asafoetida.
Now add 2 chillies and 1 inch ginger and sauté well.
Add 1 onion and sauté until onions shrink slightly.
Next, add 1⁄4 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt and sauté well again.
Add 3 potatos and mix well, mash slightly making sure everything is well combined.
Turn off the flame and add 2 tbsp coriander and 2 tbsp lemon juice and mix well.
The potato fillinf for the Masala Dosa is now ready. Keep aside.

Masala Dosa preparation:

Firstly, add a ladleful of batter on hot tawa.
Take 1 tsp of butter and spread uniformly.
Spread as thin as possible making a crispy dosa.
The, place 2 tbsp of prepared aloo masala (potato filling) in the centre.
Roast until the dosa turns golden brown and crisp.
Scrape the sides of dosa and then roll the dosa.
Finally, the Masala Dosa is ready. Serve with coconut chutney and sambar.



Feature image: Masala Dosa. Courtesy Bombay Delight

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