Masala dosa · with potato filling
Masala dosa, crisp outside, soft inside.
A plain dosa with a spiced potato filling folded inside. The dosa is the recipe you already know. The work is in the masala: dry enough not to steam the shell, loose enough to spread.
Part one · the masala
What goes in
The filling for 10 dosas. You also need about 800 ml of fermented plain dosa batter, roughly half a batch.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| PotatoesWaxy or all-purpose (Yukon Gold, Maris Piper). Floury russets turn to paste. | 600 g |
| OnionOne large onion, halved and sliced 3 mm thin. | 200 g |
| OilSunflower, or coconut oil for a Kerala-style masala. | 30 ml |
| Black mustard seedsAbout 1 teaspoon. | 4 g |
| Urad dalFor crunch in the tempering. | 5 g |
| Chana dalSame. Skip both dals and you lose the texture that marks a good masala. | 8 g |
| Curry leavesFresh. Frozen works; dried does not. | 20 leaves |
| Green chilliesSlit lengthwise. Seeds in for heat. | 2 |
| GingerGrated fine. | 10 g |
| AsafoetidaA large pinch. | 0.5 g |
| Ground turmericAbout ½ teaspoon. This is where the yellow comes from. | 1.5 g |
| SaltFine. | 7 g |
| Hot waterLoosens the masala at the end. | 100 ml |
| Coriander leavesChopped. | 10 g |
| Lemon juiceOptional. Added off the heat. | 10 ml |
Making the masala
About 35 minutes, most of it boiling potatoes. Make it before you heat the tawa. It holds for an hour at room temperature.
Boil the potatoes whole
Boil the potatoes whole, in their skins, in salted water. Whole potatoes absorb less water, and a watery potato means a soggy dosa.
Simmer · 20–25 min from the boil, depending on size
Cool · 10 min, until you can handle themReady whenA knife slides to the centre with no resistance. Peel them warm, then break them by hand into 1–2 cm pieces. Do not mash; you want pieces, some crumbs, no paste.Temper the spices
Heat the 30 ml of oil in a heavy pan until it shimmers. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop. Then add the urad dal and chana dal and stir until they turn light gold.
Oil temperature · about 170 °C (340 °F), shimmering but not smoking
Mustard seeds · pop within 20–30 s
Dals · light gold in 30–45 s. Dark brown tastes bitterAdd the curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and asafoetida together. Stand back: the leaves spit. Stir for 20 seconds.
Soften the onions
Add the sliced onion and a pinch of the salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring every minute, until the onion is soft and translucent.
Time · 5–6 min
Colour · translucent, not browned. Browned onion makes the masala taste of fried onion, not potatoAdd turmeric, potato and water
Stir in the turmeric for 15 seconds, until it smells toasted. Add the potatoes, the rest of the salt and the 100 ml of hot water. Fold, pressing a few pieces against the pan to break them down.
Cook for 3–4 minutes until the water is absorbed. Take it off the heat, then stir in the coriander and lemon juice.
Ready whenA spoonful holds its shape when you drop it on a plate, with no liquid pooling around it. If it runs, cook it for another minute. If it looks dry and cracked, add 20 ml of hot water.
Part two · the pan
Filling and folding
Every step up to the pour is the plain dosa method: thin the batter, heat the tawa to 200–215 °C, season it with an oiled onion, bring it down to 190–200 °C with a sprinkle of water.
Pour and spread
Pour 80 ml of batter and spread it in a spiral to 22–25 cm in 10–15 seconds. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil or ghee around the rim.
Fill at 75 seconds, not before
Wait until the top is dry and the underside is light gold, about 75 seconds. Filling a dosa while the top is still wet makes it steam and turn limp.
Spoon 80 g of masala in a line down the centre, about 8 cm wide. Do not spread it to the edges.
Fill at · 75 s, top dry, underside light gold
Masala · 80 g, one heaped serving spoon
Masala temperature · warm or room temperature. Straight from the fridge it chills the dosa and stops it browningFold and lift
Leave it for another 30–45 seconds so the underside turns fully golden. Fold one side over the masala, then the other, and slide it off with a flat spatula.
ServeImmediately, seam side down, with coconut chutney and sambar. A masala dosa loses its crispness in about 5 minutes.
When it goes wrong
- Dosa goes limp after fillingFilled too early, or the masala was wet. Wait until the top is dry, and cook the masala until it holds its shape.
- Masala tastes blandToo little salt, or the tempering was not cooked long enough to toast the dals. 7 g of salt for 600 g of potatoes is the minimum.
- Masala is glueyFloury potatoes, or mashed instead of broken. Use waxy potatoes and break them by hand.
- Filling spills out when foldingMore than 80 g, or spread too wide. Keep it in an 8 cm strip down the centre.
Can I make the potato masala in advance?
Yes. It keeps 2 days in the fridge. Warm it in a pan with 20 ml of water per 250 g before filling, because cold masala stops the dosa browning.
What is the difference between masala dosa and Mysore masala dosa?
A Mysore masala dosa has a spicy red chutney, made from dried red chillies, garlic and shallots, spread over the inside of the dosa before the potato goes in.
Can I use store-bought dosa batter for masala dosa?
Yes. Thin it to the same pouring consistency, which is 40 ml of water per 500 g of batter, and use the same pan temperatures.
Keep going
- Coconut chutneyFresh, frozen or desiccated coconut, in grams, with a tempering that takes 60 seconds.
- SambarTiffin sambar: toor dal, tamarind and shallots in grams, thinner than the sambar you eat with rice.
- Ghee roast dosaThe same batter spread thinner and roasted slower in ghee until it snaps.
- Dosa sticking to the panHeat, seasoning and batter checks, plus how to re-season a cast iron tawa that has stopped releasing.