Panch Phoron: Crisp Dosa with Five-Seed Potato Masala
Make it the LXV way
Spice blend
Panch Phoron Spice Blend
Wine pairing
2024 Blanc De Franc
100% Cabernet Franc from Eckert Vineyard, Paso Robles. 250 cases. A rare white expression of Cabernet Franc — tropical, textured, and like nothing else in the portfolio.
Wine pairing
2024 Blanc de Sangiovese
100% Sangiovese from Santa Ynez Vineyard, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara. 143 cases. Inspired by Capana Blanc de Sangiovese from Italy — the most delicate expression of the Sangiovese grape.
A fermented rice-and-lentil crêpe is the single most wine-friendly thing in the Indian repertoire — the lactic tang in the batter mirrors the acid in a white, and there is no tannin anywhere to fight. We fill ours with a Bengali-leaning potato masala built on Panch Phoron, whose nigella and fenugreek give the filling a bitter-savory edge the plain version lacks. Pour the Blanc de Franc for its herbal snap, or the Blanc de Sangiovese for weight against the ghee.
Ingredients
- BATTER (start a day ahead): 2 cups parboiled idli rice
- 1/2 cup skinned urad dal (split black gram)
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- MASALA: 3 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
- 2 tsp LXV Panch Phoron Spice Blend
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 20 fresh curry leaves
- 2 yellow onions, sliced thin
- 2 green chilies, split lengthwise
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled, peeled and roughly broken (not mashed)
- 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- Juice of 1/2 lime and a large handful of cilantro
- Ghee or oil, for cooking the dosas
Method
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and soak it 6 hours. Separately soak the urad dal and fenugreek 4 hours.
- Grind the dal and fenugreek first with just enough cold water to make a light, fluffy batter — it should almost float. Grind the rice separately to a fine, slightly grainy paste. Fold the two together by hand with the salt.
- Cover loosely and ferment at warm room temperature 10-14 hours, until the batter has risen, smells pleasantly sour, and is full of bubbles. Refrigerate until you are ready; thin with water to a pourable single-cream consistency before cooking.
- For the masala, heat the ghee in a wide pan over medium. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then add the LXV Panch Phoron Spice Blend and the curry leaves — stand back, they will spit.
- Add the onions, chilies and ginger and cook 8 minutes until soft and just golden. Stir in the turmeric.
- Fold in the broken potatoes and salt, adding 1/4 cup water to loosen. Cook 5 minutes, pressing some of the potato into the pan so it picks up color. Finish with lime and cilantro and keep warm.
- Heat a cast-iron or carbon-steel pan over medium-high until a drop of water skitters. Wipe with a lightly oiled cloth. Pour a ladle of batter in the center and spread it outward in a quick spiral to a thin round.
- Drizzle a teaspoon of ghee around the edge and cook 2-3 minutes without touching it, until the underside is lace-brown and the edges lift. Do not flip a dosa you plan to fill.
- Spoon masala down the center, fold, and serve immediately — a dosa waits for no one. Repeat, wiping the pan between each.
More like this
https://www.lxvwine.com/recipes/panch-phoron-crisp-dosa-with-five-seed-potato-masala/ · LXV Wine, Paso Robles