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 :)