Cauliflower Masala Dosa

My 205th recipe, "Cauliflower Masala Dosa", a special South Indian breakfast recipe. A light and crispy fermented rice based crepe filled with a delicious Cauliflower filling.

If you have been following my blog, you would probably be knowing by now that cauliflower is my most favorite vegetable. So there is no wonder that a dosa made with a cauliflower masala filling is on the list of my most favorite dishes. While I love the cauliflower masala as a side for dosa, we generally do not make it at home.

My mom used to stick with other traditional sides for dosa like sambar or chutney or at times venture into making a masala dosa with a potato filling. However, whenever I used to visit Hotel Saravana Bhavan for dinner with my family, my eyes would first stop at the Special of the day. I would always pray that they should have either a paneer dosa or this cauliflower masala dosa as the special for the day. Apart from these 2 being my favorites, I did not necessarily love the other specials like mushroom masala dosa, peas dosa, etc.

I do not know how they prepare the cauliflower masala dosa at the restaurant, but whatever I made today is a very simple version of mine. The cauliflower masala itself is perfectly spicy, rich and mouth watering delicious. When paired along with a perfectly made crispy dosa, the combination of flavor and taste is just divine and cannot be just defined in words 😉

Cauliflower Masala Dosa

Cauliflower Masala Dosa

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• Cauliflower - 1 large cut into florets
• Salt - a large pinch + ½ tsp adjust per taste
• Turmeric - a small pinch + ¼ tsp
• Cashews - 15
• Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig finely chopped
• Green chilli - 1 small finely chopped
• Onion - 1 large finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 large finely chopped
• Red chilli powder - ½ tsp
• Coriander powder - ½ tsp
• Cumin powder - ¼ tsp
• Garam masala - ½ tsp
• Coriander leaves - ¼ cup chopped
• Dosa batter - as needed.

Instructions

 

• First wash the cauliflower florets and add it to a large pan with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Add boiling water to the cauliflower and leave it aside until needed. This will help remove any impurities from the cauliflower.
  
    
• Add the cashews to a blender/mixer along with sufficient water and grind into a smooth paste and keep aside.
  
    
• In a separate large pan, heat the oil and add the fennel seeds, green chilli and curry leaves. Once they start to change color, add the chopped onion and saute until translucent.
  
    
• Now, add the the chopped tomatoes, ½ tsp salt and saute until the tomato turns mushy.
  
    
• Now, add all the masala powders (¼ tsp turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala) and saute until the mixture become thick and the oil starts to ooze out.
  
    
• At this stage, add sufficient water for the masala (about ¼ cup) and add the ground cashew paste. Mix well until combined and let it come to a boil.Once the mixture starts to boil, add the cauliflower florets (drained from water) and mix well.
  
    
  
    
  
    
• Then, remove the lid, turn the flame back to high and saute until the mixture thickens and comes to a masala consistency. Add the coriander leaves, mix well and turn off the flame and keep the masala aside.
  
    
• Now we can start preparing the dosa. Heat a tawa, take ¾th ladle of batter and spread it into a thin dosa and sprinkle some oil to its corners and over it. Refer to my video here. Cook in medium flame until the side touching the tawa changes to golden brown, by now the top will be fully cooked as well. Place a ladle full of prepared masala at the center and fold the dosa over it.
  
    
  
    
• Serve hot and enjoy with an optional side of chutney or sambar.
  
       

Notes | FAQ

- We need our masala to be dry and not watery. Otherwise once we place them in dosa, the dosa will turn soggy.
- Do adjust the spiciness (Green chilli, Red chilli powder) according to your taste.
- Adjust the quantity of salt and other masala powders based on the size of your cauliflower.
- Since you are not going to flip the dosa and cook it only on one side, the dosa should be spread out very thin. This will also give you a crispy dosa.
- Preferably cook the dosa in medium flame, so that the top gets a chance to cook as well.
- Instead of placing the masala at the center of the dosa, you can also spread it evenly on the dosa.