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Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 100gm chana dhal; 60 ml ghee; 2 medium onions, sliced; 1 tsp fresh garlic, crushed;
• ½ tsp turmeric; 2 tsp salt; ½ tsp chilli powder; 1 tsp garam masala; 5 tbsp yogurt;
• 1.35 litres water; 150 ml milk; 1 tsp saffron; 3 tbsp lemon juice;
• 2 green chillies; fresh coriander leaves; 3 black cardamoms;
• 3 black cumin seeds and 450 gm basmati rice.

Cooking Method:

• Rinse and soak the chana dhal for 3 hours. Rinse the rice, removing any stones and set aside.
• Heat the ghee in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry until golden brown. Using a perforated spoon, remove half of the onion with a little of the ghee and set aside in a bowl.
• Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric, 1 tsp of the salt, the chilli powder and garam masala to the mixture remaining in the pan and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the yogurt and add the chana dhal and 150 ml water. Cook covered, for 15 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, boil the milk with the saffron and set aside with the reserved fried onion, lemon juice, green chillies and coriander leaves.
• Boil the rest of the water and add the salt, black cardamoms, black cumin seeds and the rice, and cook, stirring, until the rice is half-cooked. Drain, and place half of the fried onion, saffron, lemon juice, green chillies and coriander on top of the chana dhal mixture.
• Place the remaining rice on top of this and the rest of the fried onion, saffron, lemon juice, chillies and coriander on top of the rice.
• Cover tightly with a lid and cook for 20 minutes over a very low heat. Mix with a slotted spoon before serving.

Dosas (pancakes) are widely eaten in southern India. They can be served either on their own with chutney or as here with a vegetable filling, when they are known as masala dosa.

Makes 6-8

Ingredients:

• 200 gm urid dhal, or 200gm ground rice and 50 gm urid dhal flour (ata); 425 -600 ml water; 1 tsp salt, 4 tbsp oil.

Filling:

• 4 medium potatoes, diced; 3 green chillies, chopped;
• ½ tsp turmeric; 1 tsp salt; 150 ml oil;
• 1 tsp mustard and onion seeds; 3 dried chillies;
• 4 curry leaves and 2 tbsp lemon juice.

Cooking Method:

• To make the dosas (pancakes), soak the rice and urid dhal for 3 hours. Grind the rice and urid dhal to a smooth consistency, adding water if necessary.
• Set aside for a further 3 hours to ferment. Alternatively, if you are using ground rice and urid dhal flour (ata), mix together in a bowl.
• Add the water and salt and stir until a batter is formed.
• Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a large, non-stick, frying pan. Using a ladle, spoon the batter into the frying pan. Tilt the frying-pan to spread the mixture over the base.
• Cover and cook over a medium heat for about 2 minutes.
• Remove the lid and turn the dosa over very carefully. Pour a little oil around the edge, cover and cook for a further 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.
• To make the filling, boil the potatoes in a pan of water. Add the chillies, turmeric and salt and cook until the potatoes are soft enough to be lightly mashed.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the mustard and onion seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves for about 1 minute.
• Pour the spice mixture over the mashed potatoes, then sprinkle over the lemon juice and mix well.
• Spoon the potato filling on one half of he dosas and fold the other half the filling. Serve hot.