Herbed Bottle Gourd Dosa (Crepes)

I am not a fussy eater, any of the known edible vegetable/ fruit will vouch for that ;) even the widely loathed bitter-gourd will tell you how much I swear by her bitter sweet goodness :P Now when I see my daughter not really hating any vegetable ( but not sharing the same fondness for most of the veggies , I instinctively go back  to what MOMS do best - CAMOUFLAGE .
For instance take this veggie - Bottle Gourd that's not a very regular entrant in my hearth but is enjoyed by us whenever it goes under  the fire - Samyu is always more than happy to give it the step-motherly treatment. Just to tickle her taste-buds , I made these dosas - rice crepes with a hint of lentils and a punch of the gourd.

As she ate them she kept on asking me what was the sneaky twirly greeny thing in every bite :D Saved the reply till the plate was wiped clean and man was she amazed.
Thanks to my mom's idea who is a camouflage expert, my daughter loved the vegetable in a new avatar !

Bottle Gourd also known as calabash gourd/bottle squash/Lauki/Sorakkai is a rich source of sodium & potassium and has a calming effect on frayed nerves. An xcellent remedy for treating urinary disorders, the gourd has also an appreciative effect on the functioning of livers. Hey if you are in to reducing weight, this is the veggie to tuck in - after eating a healthy portion of the cooked veggie, the stomach sends a full sign to the brain - Ain't that cool?

So coming back to the recipe, the crepes do not require any fermentation of the batter, they can be made instantly after grinding & mixing the gourd and other ingredients. However, storing the mixed batter in fridge for making dosas after  a few hours is also okay.In case you already have some dosa batter ready in the fridge; take the required quantity and proceed to mix the gourd along with chillis,salt etc for the batter

What's in it :-

• Parboiled Rice - 1 cup 
• Urad Dal - A fistful
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Bottle Gourd - 1/4 to 1/2 cup - as required (washed,peeled,seeded & grated)
• Green Chillis - 1 or 2 - to taste - finely chopped
• Coriander Leaves - a few sprigs - finely chopped
• Mint Leaves - to taste - chopped
• Salt - to taste
• Asafoetida - a generous pinch
• Oil - as required- little

Here's How :-

Wash the rice & lentils well and soak them in adequate water along with the fenugreek seeds for 3-4 hours. Drain them (after retaining a little water for grinding) and grind them to a smooth batter in a food processor adding adequate water. Scrape them to a bowl and mix the grated gourd, green chillis mint & coriander leaves. Add salt & asafoetida and give it a good mix. Add more water if required to have a nice dosa batter like consistency.

In an iron griddle or non stick pan, tip in little oil on the surface and grease it with a slice of onion (this besides coating the surface evenly also adds a good flavour to the dosas) and as it warms well, pour a ladle full of the batter and spread it across (as thinly as possible) with the back of the ladle to a nice round like shape.

Pour little oil around the edges and wait for it to cook. Flip it and let the other side cook till it is all browned up evenly.Enjoy the dosa with chutney/curd/any other choice accompaniment. 

Linking it to Vardhini's New U and also to fast Food Not Fat Food hosted by me, the brainchild of Priya Mahadevan and to Priya's Veggie of the month - Bottle Gourd guest hosted by Raji