Dosa MakeOver : Brinjal Dosa with Basil Tomato Chutney

Dosa topped with thinly sliced brinjal and roasted on both sides is a favorite of my son. Occasionally I also top it with some tomato sauce and shredded cheese for a tasty and finger licking experience. It is a complete meal with dosa providing the carbs and protein and the brinjal adding the v factor. Serve this with a tomato chutney flavored with few basil leaves instead of corriander for a completely different flavor. This is a dosa makeover with the purple brinjal and the green chutney adding the oomph factor.

Dosa's should be slightly thicker to hold on the brinjal. Second thing to remember is to roast the dosa after flipping for the brinjal to cook. If the brinjal's are fresh and organic they cook very fast. This is my son's most loved breakfast/dinner/any time snack.

Ingredients for the Dosa

1. Dosa batter - 1 cup
2. Brinjal 3 medium - sliced thin (the slices should be immersed in a salt water bowl, otherwise the brinjal will turn bitter)
3. Oil - couple of tea spoons

Method

1. Heat the dosa pan on medium high.
2. Lower the heat and pour the batter slightly thicker than the normal paper dosa but not as thick as uthappam.
3. Quickly place the brinjal slices on the batter when it is still wet to ensure that the brinjal sticks to the batter. Below is a picture I took as soon as the brinjal was placed on the dosa. You can see that the batter is still runny in some places. It is important to reduce the heat to the lowest at this point. Otherwise the dosa would be roasted but the brinjal would be under cooked.
4. Spread 1/2 tea spoon oil around and sprinkle a few drops on the brinjal too. When the dosa is flipped, the oil drops on the brinjal will help in roasting the veggies.
5. Increase the heat to medium and cover the dosa with a lid to help in the cooking.
6. After 30 seconds flip the dosa and roast on medium heat while pressing it with the spatula. This will help in roasting the brinjal. This will take anytime between 30 seconds to  1 minute depending on the thickness of the brinjal slices. If you are not sure, you can turn around the dosa and see if it is cooked or not. Otherwise continue with the roasting.

For the chutney,

1. Cook 2 medium tomatoes, 1 green chilli in a tea spoon of oil
2. Grind the cooked tomatoes, chilli along with few fresh basil leaves and a clove of garlic. I have used sweet basil. You can use any variation or corriander leaves too. It is these few leaves that will determine the flavor of the chutney.
3. Season with some lemon juice and serve the chutney along with the dosa. 

Normally we use corriander, but one day I just had a few fresh basil leaves and added them on the spur. The flavor that the few leaves introduced made us swoon and since then it has been on the menu whenever we make brinjal dosa.


Try this variation if you are bored of the regular dosa and want to experiment with different flavors. The brinjal dosa tastes pretty good with the regular coconut chutney too.