indian spiced dosa tacos

During my discovery of Ayurvedic cooking, I fell head over heels in love with making homemade Dosa- a type of Indian flatbread. Dosa is great dipped in yogurt, soups, chutneys or just on its own, but for this recipe, I thought it would be fun to mix it up and use it as the shell for a soft taco. Since tacos are usually an easy, quick meal to make on a weeknight, I felt this recipe should function the same way. Making traditional dosa is a multiple-day affair since the batter needs to ferment overnight- but a quick way to make dosa is with chana dal flour, shredded summer squash and spices. It’s a bit thicker, tastes delicious and only takes minutes to make. 

When it comes to preparation, in India dosa is traditionally cooked on the spot and handed to guests as they are flipped hot off the skillet. So, if you’ve got the courage, I encourage you to prep the fillings for the tacos first, so that each dosa can be cooked on the spot and handed to your guest fresh! It makes the whole experience a little more personalized and interactive, and they’ll be able to assemble their taco while the dosa is still toasty warm. Once they pack it with freshly sautéed veggies, avocado, dill yogurt and a squeeze of lime - they’ll never think about tacos (or dosa) the same way again. 

SERVINGS: 4 TACOS

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS

for DOSA:

1 cup chickpea flour

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup finely chopped zucchini or yellow squash (the smaller the pieces the better)

high heat cooking oil for drizzling (such as sunflower oil or avocado oil)

for YOGURT SAUCE:

1/2 cup whole milk yogurt

2 teaspoons freshly chopped dill

1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper

for TACO FILLING:

2 tbsp high heat cooking oil (such as ghee, sunflower oil or avocado oil)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric 

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1.5 cups shredded carrot (I recommend buying the carrot already shredded from grocery store - if you only have whole carrots- you will need to chop them very finely into 1 inch long think sticks which will drive you crazy but can be done)

2 cups red or greed cabbage, shredded (also recommend buying this already shredded from grocery store)

3 tablespoons water

1 lime, juiced 

2 teaspoon fennel seeds

for TACO TOPPINGS

1 Avocado, sliced

2 limes, cut into wedges 

DIRECTIONS

Add the chickpea flour, water and salt in a mixing bowl and wisk together until it is thoroughly mixed, like a batter. Add shredded zucchini and mix together. Set aside.

Add yogurt, chopped dill and cracked pepper to a small mixing bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Warm 2 tablespoons of the ghee (or cooking oil of choice) in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once heated, add the turmeric and cumin. Sauté spices on low heat for 30 seconds or until fragrant. (Make sure not to burn)

Add the carrots to the pan. Slowly sauté the carrots with the spices until they are soft- about 10 minutes on medium heat. Once soft- add the cabbage, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and the water. Stir to combine, lower heat to low heat and cover with a lid for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are very soft, checking in occasionally to stir. Once soft- turn off heat and squeeze the juice of 1 lime onto veggies. Place lid on top to keep warm and set aside.

Rub a cast iron pan with a bit of oil and a paper towel so that it is greased but there isn’t excess oil pooling in the pan. Heat the skillet for a couple minutes so it's hot. Pour 1/4 cup of dosa batter directly on greased skillet. Spread out with back of spoon so it's like a pancake, about 5-6 inches in diameter. Sprinkle top with a pinch of fennel seeds, a pinch of salt, and a crack or two of pepper from the pepper mill. As the surface of the pancake begins to appear to be drying out, drizzle a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of melted ghee on top of the dosa and tilt the pan back and forth to spread oil around on the surface of the dosa.

After 3 minutes of the batter being on the skillet, using a spatula, flip dosa over (it should come up easily. If it doesn't, wait another 20 seconds or so. It make take a few dosas to get it right but you'll get the hang of it) Let the flipped dosa cook for another minute. Then, using the spatula, flip out of pan and onto a plate that you can keep warm until all dosas are complete. I like to keep a warmed oven and place them on a plate in the oven. Once enough dosas have been made for your liking - its taco time.

To construct the taco, simply lay the dosa flat on the plate and add a heaping scoop of sautéed vegetables in the center (about 1/3 cup per dosa) Then top with a dollop of dill yogurt, avocado slice, and a big squeeze of lime. Have your guests fold the dosa in half so it holds like a pita and they can eat with their hands. You can also enjoy open-faced with a knife and fork. Serve immediately.