With kids, funny things happen, ALL THE TIME.

You just have to stop and smell the flowers as they say.

But sometimes things happen that you just laugh your socks off... and this was one of those:
Now I qualify this as 'Kids say the darnest things' though not word was said.

A few weekends ago, one afternoon we were chilling with very dear friends of ours. And they have the most friendly and cute dog.... lets call him 'Roomba'. Why? Since if there is a piece of food on floor he eats it away! I always say, they never need a vacuum.

So, my friend was teaching Miss Chatterbox a few tricks for Roomba, the dog, like Sit, Sleep and then offer a treat.
The story goes like this.

My friend holds out the treat and says.
' Roomba, Sleep, Roomba, put your head down, Roomba stop wagging the tail'
The adorable dog, Roomba is, he does all three and then happily gets his treat.

My chatterbox (7 years old)follows the cue and repeats the same :
' Roomba, Sleep, Roomba, put your head down, Roomba stop wagging the tail'
The adorable dog, Roomba is, he does all three and then happily gets his treat.

Everyone is happy and cheering the dog, Roomba and the girls.

My friend then asks Little Lady (who just turned two), Do you want to try?
And the little lady does the following:
'She Sleeps,She puts her head down, and she stops moving'

So now, the two year old is cutely lying on the floor and we are in splits and laughing hysterically.
Miss Chatterbox goes and says, 'Little Lady deserved a treat!' and feeds her a cheerio

I assure you, this will be a memory etched in all our minds for a long time to come. I swear, I wish we were making a video, it completely would have made it to AFV!

Dosa from Scratch: It's NOT hard at all..

 We are a foodie family. We experiment, we attempt, we fail and we try.

I am one of those who try to cook a fresh meal daily for the kiddos. I say try. The menu needless to say has to be quick and easy to put together. Our week's menu range from Indian Staples: Tortilla/Roti, Vegetables, Curry to Pasta, Quesdilla, Burgers, Panini and snacks... Who says snacks can’t be dinners at times!

In the last 6 months there is one new item: Dosa I have learned that has changed our weekly menu's

Dosa's Or the rice/lentil pancakes or delicious goodnessthat makes us come alive.

My friends MIL gave me a recipe and I have been at it pretty much once every 2-3 weeks

Dosa from scratch!

As you read below, you will think 'My Gosh, it's a 3 day process' yes and no. From the time you soak to you cooking the dosa is 2-3 days. But your involvement is only 20 minutes tops. I guarantee, else I would not be sharing this recipe

Time Breakdown

Soak: 12 hours

Grind: 5 - 10 minutes

Ferment: 24 hours

Prepare the dosa: Depends on your speed!

Ingredients: Makes about 25-30 dosa

2 cup rice

1 cup Udat Daal

1 tsp Methi Dana

1 tsp Chana Daal

Process:

1. Mix and wash all the ingredients and soak overnight

2. Next morning, drain the mixed rice/udat daal and grind them using a heavy duty blender, Example: Blendtec, Ninja Turbo

3. Grinding Notes

1. The grinding takes about 5 - 10 minutes

2. Add less than 1/2 cup water during the process of grinding

3. The batter is a thick white paste, I feel it with my hands, if its grainy, I blend some more.

4. At the time of grinding, feel free to add 1 cup of Poha (washed) for extra crispy dosa's

Ferment:

Pour the batter in a box that seals well and after pouring there is some : My Pyrex works magic!

Size of the box in which you seal the batter should be 2/3 filled since on fermenting the batter rises.

Place the batter in the closed oven (no need to start it)for 24 hours plus to ferment.

Making Dosa:

1. The fermented batter generally rises a little more.

2. Take 1/2 the batter and gradually add water (1 cup) to make the batter liquidy. The batter should be like the pancake batter consistency to make dosa's

3. Add 1 tsp of spoon of salt and roll out the Dosa like Crepe's

The remainder half can be stored in refrigerator upto 5 days. 

To Eat:

I have attempted the following varieties over the past few months:

Sada Dosa,

Cheese Dosa,

Aalloo Masala Dosa,

Paneer Dosa,

Mysore Masala

You have some other variations, please do send my way!

Accompaniments with dosa:

Nariyal Chutney: Recipe coming soon

Green Chutney:

Red Habanero Chutney: Recipe coming soon

Sambhar: I make a 'quick fix' one of these days I will learn the traditional recipe for Sambhar, for now my family is happy with the 'quick fix sambhar’ which tastes really good, if I may add that!