Benne Dose

Butter goes into the batter itself, not only onto the finished dosa.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (butter).

Ingredients

• 300 g rice
• 80 g whole white urad dal
• 60 g poha, flattened rice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 150 g butter, softened, for the batter
• 150 g butter, for cooking and serving

Method

1. BUTTER GOES INTO THE BATTER ITSELF, NOT ONLY ONTO THE FINISHED DOSA. Its article is direct about it: a variety of dosa from one city, prepared by INCORPORATING BUTTER INTO DOSA BATTER, and typically served with toppings of additional butter. Both halves matter. Butter in the batter changes how it cooks -- the fat shortens the crepe so it comes out softer in the middle and more brittle at the edge than an oiled dosa, and it browns much faster. Butter only on top gives you a buttery dosa, which is not the same thing and is what most people assume the name means.
2. IT IS SOFT BUTTER FOLDED IN, NOT MELTED BUTTER STIRRED IN. Melted butter separates out of a fermented batter and floats. Soft butter beaten in with the fingers emulsifies and stays.
3. THE BUTTER GOES IN AFTER THE FERMENT. Fat slows a fermentation considerably. Ferment the plain batter overnight, then work the butter through.
4. POHA AND A LITTLE SUGAR ARE PART OF WHY IT CRISPS. Both are usual in this style: the flattened rice softens the crumb and the sugar helps the surface colour and caramelise against all that butter.
5. THE GRIDDLE IS COOLER THAN FOR A PLAIN DOSA. Medium rather than medium-high. Butter burns where oil would not, and a scorched butter dosa tastes acrid.
6. IT IS SMALLER AND THICKER THAN A PLAIN DOSA. Spread to about twenty centimetres and not pushed thinner. The soft centre is the point of it.
7. MORE BUTTER GOES ON WHILE IT IS ON THE PAN. A spoonful dropped on top and allowed to melt through the holes, which its article describes as the usual service.
8. IT IS EATEN IMMEDIATELY. A butter dosa left for two minutes goes limp. It is the one rice-batter dish here that cannot be stacked and carried to the table.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes