Panpolo / Neer Dosa

Panpolo or Neer dosa is a very common breakfast dosa in a konkaNi household. Neer - meaning water in kannada - is a main constituent of this dosa along with soaked rice. The consistency of this dosa is also watery, which is why the name probably. In konkaNi, I think it associates with Paani (water) polo (dosa). However, this is just a guess :) There are several versions of this dosa, with coconut, cucumber, magge (mangalore cucumber / melon), water melon peel etc., I love all these versions, but they all have distinct flavors and I think they are all acquired tastes.

I remember when my mom used to make these dosas (although she makes the coconut version of these called soye polo), they used to turn out so soft that every bite would melt in your mouth. We used to eat them with ChurNu (konkaNi), which is a mixture of grated coconut and jaggery, or with honey. I never preferred to eat this dish with chutney, although, if I insist on honey or churNu nowadays, my mom will probably call me a baby :P Not that I care... I stick to my tastes often !!

Oh BTW !! These dosas are similar to crepes. Anyways, heres the recipe you guys.... You will love this dish and it is so simple to make.

Serves 2 Preparation Time (3.5 hrs - on and off)
Set-Aside Time (4 hrs / overnight)
Cooking Time - 20 mins approx


Ingredients

Rice - 1 cups

Salt - as per taste

Water

Oil - for roasting

Method

Soak the rice for 2 - 3 hrs. Hence the large preparation time :)

Grind the rice with as less water as possible to a fine smooth paste. Pour it into a vessel and add considerable quantity of water... Don't worry yet about the consistency of the batter. Don't yet add the salt at this point. 

Keep the watery batter overnight or at-least for 4 more hours. The batter will now separate out from the water and the water can be seen floating on top of the batter in the vessel. Don't shake the vessel a lot and pour out the water from the top of the vessel, by tilting the vessel slowly. Don't worry if a little bit of water is left behind. This process is to get a little bit of elasticity to the batter when kept aside for some time. If this process is omitted, the dosas might break when spread on the tava, since rice does not have an inherent elasticity.

Now add some salt to the batter. Add water enough to make the batter to the consistency of milk. Not too thick, but not very watery either.

Heat a tava on medium flame. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on it. Throw some of the batter with a ladle. If the tava is a round one with an edge or rim, you can just pour some batter on the tava and tilt the tava to spread the batter. Do not spread the batter with the ladle like a normal dosa. Cover and cook for a min or two. Fold the dosa and serve. This dosa is not flipped and cooked like regular dosas. Enjoy with any kind of chutney or ChurNu or honey. It tastes heavenly.

I had prepared peanut-garlic chutney to go with it.
YES !! I realize the tea-cup is almost empty,
but that is when my friends let me finally take this pic :)

Rava Bhakri / Rullava Bhakri

"Bhakri" in konkani means a hybrid of a dosa and rotti (rotti in kannada - not roti in hindi). So, its a kind of a thick pancake type dish which is a bit crunchier and has a bite compared to a soft pancake. Bhakri can be made out of rice flour, wheat rava, idli rava etc.,


When my mom used to make these bhakris at home, I used to gobble so many of them - I used to love them with butter / ghee. Also, my mom used to make small-tiny disc shaped ones. She would cook 3 small bhakris on the tava at the same time. So, each one was 2-3 bite-sized servings and they used to disappear so fast.... :)


This rava bhakri batter can also be combined with grated cucumber, melon or the like to get variations of the dish and they all taste heavenly. Also, they all leave such a wonderful aroma in the house when they are cooking, that, that alone is enough to get your appetite going.... Well, enough description and lets get down to the recipe now... I am feeling hungry for them all over again :(


Serves 2
Preparation Time (10 min)
Cooking Time - 15 mins approx

Ingredients


Sooji / Rava - 2 cups

Grated coconut - 1 cup (the more the coconut, the better the taste)
Green Chillies - 2 (finely chopped)

Yoghurt - for making a mixture
Salt - as per taste

Coriander leaves (optional - finely chopped)

Oil - for roasting

Method

Add the grated coconut, finely chopped green chillies, salt into a deep bowl and mix well. Keep aside. When you are ready to make the bhakris / rottis, add the rava and add as much yoghurt is necessary to make a batter thicker than idli batter. (You should be able to take a ladel of batter and when you drop it, it should fall down in a lump and not run down the ladel.) If you dont want to use a lot of yoghurt, you can add some water to make the batter. If you want to spread the batter like a dosa, then make it a little more thinner than usual. Traditionally the batter is spread using your hands, but that could get you a bit on the burnt hands end :P

Heat a pan / griddle (preferably cast iron), on medium flame. Once it is hot, spread a few drops of oil on the griddle. Take a large ladel full of batter, put it on the pan and start spreading with your hands. If it gets too hot, then dip your hands in cold water and spread the rest of it. The batter should be spread to about 1/4 " thickness.

Cover and cook for 2 mins or until bottom side is golden brown. Then sprinkle few drops of oil on top of the bhakri. Flip it and cook until the top side has golden brown spots as well. Rava bhakri is ready to serve with chutney and butter / ghee. Enjoy !!

P.S: Sorry I do not have photos as of now, but will add as soon as I have some.