Dosa and Takkali ki chutney

Thakkali is the Tamil word for tomato. This chutney is an accompaniment to idli and dosa.
Now I have seen so many variations of tomato chutney,hyderabadi style is called tamate ki chutney is made like this
this one is without onion, then again there is kache tamate ki chatney,then some people like it with onion....so the list goes on...

This particular dip is a Tamil speciality,I learnt it from my MIL,since she is visiting us, idli,dosa has become a regular breakfast at home!
Back in my school days,on my reports day(the day on which our report cards were handed to our parents),for getting good marks we were given a treat by mummy,so our first choice was Taj Mahal,Abids...and there,I dont remember ordering anything other than masala dosa...little did I knew that I would be eating it so regularly, I mean when I am at my in-laws place,our breakfasts are either dosa or idlis or paniyaram or uthappam or aappam,.I never knew the names of last two dishes till I got married, for me the only two south indian dishes were idli and dosa...but there is more to it,the batter is same for all ,but you can make variations,I never thought that this would be so easy,some failed attempts to make dosa before marriage made me think that making dosa is not my cup of tea!

But see I am here making dosas,like a pro.
Ok so enough of my self dabba,lets start up with the ingredients for dosa
4 cups parboiled rice
1 cup Urad daal
1 tbsp methi seeds

--Wash and Soak the rice,daaland methi for 4-5 hours.
--then grind it in grinder(too good if you have sumeet mixie),use minimal water,coz if the batter gets watery its very difficult to handle.
--then a tip I learnt that if yoy have some leftover steamed white rice,put about a cup of it while grinding,as this will make the dosas softit seems.
--After grinding it to a fine paste,leave it on counter covered for about4 hours at normal temperature or 2 hours if it is really hot,for the dosa batter to get fermented.
--not after it gets fermented,using a deep spoon,mix the batter well,add some salt
--Heat tawa(i use non stick),put about 1.5 deep spooon of batter in the centre of the tawa,and take in in circular dirctions,using the spoon,till entire tawa is covered,put some oilfrom the sides,for crispy dosa put more oil,for soft dosa use less oil,wait till the colour of the dosa changes to golden brown colour,the outer sides of the dosa will not stick to tawa,then flip the dosa....u know this needs a practical demonstration,I dont think anybody can understand with what I am writing,anyways inshallah will take and post if possible.
the flame should be low when spreading the batter,once the batter is spread all over the tawaincrease the flame,cook the dosa, then after cooking dosa ,befor putting another dosa sprinkle some cold water on the hot tawa and lower the flame,this willbringthe tawa temperature down ,if tawa is hotthe batter will stick in one place.

looks like I have confused you guys a lot..
I like to make this because my daughters love idli/dosa,I dont have to run around the house to make them eat it,I make it with a dollop of ghee for Sameeha,and sometimes I spread sme grated carrot on the dosa for her tiffin!

Mostly Idli/dosa are accompanied by naaryal(coconut)chutey,or potato curry everywhere,but the Tamil Nadu speciality is tomato chutney,I prefer this to the naaryal chutney,because of its tangy taste!
Takkali chutney

Ingredients:
1)Ripe tomatoes-3
2)onion 1 medium
3)whole dried red chilli
4)Ginger small flake
5)garlic 3-4 flakes
6)dessicated coconut-2 tbsp
7)curry leaves
8)chana daal-1 tbsp
9)urad daal-1 tbsp
10)mustard
salt

Method:

--Heat oil in a kadhaai,throw in the mustard seeds and the daals and fry till golden brown,then put curry leaves,dried whole red chilli.
--Then put chopped onion,tomato,ginger,garlic,curry leaves,cilantro and fry till tomato is soft ad sqeeshy.
--Turn off the flame ad let it cool,after sometime,blend the mixture coarsely in a blender.

Enjoy this with idli/dosa/paniyaaram!

Yasmeen of Healthnut has awarded me with the chocoholic award,Thank you so much Yasmeen!
I love chocolate,especially the crunchy ones like kitkat and crunch,I will let you in a secret,back when I was a kid,my eldest brother once sent us a bag full of goodies hershey's kisses,MnMs,snickers...which were divided equally between all of us,my sister and brothers kept it safely hidden from me,and had it once in a while, but within a couple of weeks I finished my share,and like sherlok holmes found out each ad every person's share of goodies and finished all of theirs:), but after some days when confronted by my brothers ad sister in front of my mom,I was cornered!
To protect me I had the most the powerful weapon....tears!Shedding few tears spared me,though Baji and bhayya were cross at me for almost a week:)



Thanx Yasmeen once again for the award!


I would like to give this award to Lubna